Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,365,180 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,899,004 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.17% of Coca-Cola worth $3,135,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $989,000. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 12,660 shares of the company's stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 18,408,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,148,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,538 shares during the period. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 183.3% during the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 21,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 13,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 115,974 shares of the company's stock worth $7,221,000 after purchasing an additional 11,705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.06.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.96. 16,313,300 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,392,164. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company's fifty day moving average price is $70.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.50.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.