The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Stake Boosted by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 541,707 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 46,325 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $33,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the 4th 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 boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.75 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 fifty day moving average price of $69.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.36.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

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.