Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management Buys 285 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,535 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KO. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.50. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced 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%. Research analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Coca-Cola 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.