Heritage Investors Management Corp Buys 15,974 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 278,232 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,974 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $17,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.93. 16,780,602 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,036,717. The company has a market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. 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 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $64.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.50.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

About Coca-Cola

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.