Tufton Capital Management Reduces Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Tufton Capital Management lowered its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,352 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $70.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.50.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly 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 expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola 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.