TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Purchases 12,523 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 262.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,298 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,523 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $68.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $293.40 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 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.