Moody National Bank Trust Division Boosts Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO – Get Rating) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,805 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 20.0% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 99,695,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,271,819,000 after purchasing an additional 16,606,701 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 301,952,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,915,357,000 after purchasing an additional 4,994,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,373,000 after buying an additional 4,095,881 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 141.0% during the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,834,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,865,000 after buying an additional 3,998,128 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,258,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,349,737,000 after buying an additional 3,864,004 shares during the last quarter. 68.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KO. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $69.00 price objective on Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 46,421 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.50, for a total transaction of $2,808,470.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 592,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,849,033. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 46,421 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.50, for a total value of $2,808,470.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 592,546 shares in the company, valued at $35,849,033. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian John Smith sold 126,972 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.07, for a total value of $7,881,152.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 116,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,210,547.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 282,268 shares of company stock valued at $17,137,823. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.02. The company had a trading volume of 27,351,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,212,403. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $67.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.92 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 42.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 83.64%.

Coca-Cola Profile

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The Coca-Cola Co engages in the manufacturing and marketing of non-alcoholic beverages. It operates through the following segments: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, Global Ventures, and Bottling Investments. The company was founded by Asa Griggs Candler on May 8, 1886 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.