Oarsman Capital Inc. Reduces Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Oarsman Capital Inc. lowered its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,351 shares of the company’s stock after selling 299 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 4.5 %

NYSE:KO opened at $69.87 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.42.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Profile

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.