Balboa Wealth Partners Purchases 1,079 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,737 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on KO shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $69.59 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.63. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is 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.