Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Purchases 5,751 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 637,276 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $39,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.82.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $70.93. 16,780,602 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,036,717. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.36 and a 200 day moving average of $66.50. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

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

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.