The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by HUB Investment Partners LLC

HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 35.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,146 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,110 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 281,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,556,000 after buying an additional 15,735 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 196,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,243,000 after purchasing an additional 50,577 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,681,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,720,000 after purchasing an additional 44,630 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 57,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.1 %

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.33 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.53. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $298.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued 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 expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on KO. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.