8,043 Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Bought by AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Rice Partnership LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 8,499 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,582,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 222.9% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 192,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,814,000 after acquiring an additional 132,701 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $70.80 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $304.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.46.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KO. Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.