May Hill Capital LLC Makes New Investment in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 208.4% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 37,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 25,440 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $395,000. Biglari Sardar lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the third quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 106,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,663,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 485.4% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 93,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,724,000 after acquiring an additional 77,580 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.69 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $308.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KO. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

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.