Altus Wealth Group LLC Grows Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,302 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 411 shares during the quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $69.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.58. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $297.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced 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%. As a group, analysts forecast 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 $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.