Sowell Financial Services LLC Acquires 2,744 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,853 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,744 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $8,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 27,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,376,000. United Community Bank grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 47,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 20,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 18,313,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,138,000 after buying an additional 550,582 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on KO. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.52 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.58. The company has a market cap of $307.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 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.