Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Increases Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,601 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,050 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 213.3% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.4 %

KO stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, hitting $59.51. 10,154,163 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,042,312. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.42.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.23%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.