Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Has $4.95 Million Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,495 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,884 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO opened at $69.63 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.55. The company has a market capitalization of $299.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on KO. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

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.