Maripau Wealth Management LLC Buys New Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Maripau Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $5,758,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 159,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,923,000 after buying an additional 5,807 shares during the last quarter. Fortress Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $416,000. Finally, Motco raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 99,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,164,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.51. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. 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 stock has a market cap of $306.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

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 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS 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 given a $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.