Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 147,978 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,680 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $9,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,383,000. Balentine LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after buying an additional 13,685 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after buying an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after buying an additional 59,503 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 8,499 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KO shares. TD Cowen upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $70.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.50. The stock has a market cap of $305.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted 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, equities analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.