The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA lessened its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,819 shares during the period. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $8,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rice Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 8,499 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,122,000 after acquiring an additional 46,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of 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 objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of 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 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $70.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.58.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.