Miller Financial Services LLC Buys Shares of 4,677 The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Miller Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock worth $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company's stock worth $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $500,192,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company's stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth about $269,382,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.24.

Remove Ads

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE KO traded down $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.00. The stock had a trading volume of 28,069,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,037,215. The company has a market capitalization of $305.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company's 50-day moving average price is $65.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 288,146 shares of company stock worth $20,456,524 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Company 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.