Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 479 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,835 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 25.0% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 17,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 22.9% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 120,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,674,000 after buying an additional 22,515 shares in the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the third quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 68,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,919,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.87 on Monday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.38. 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 $300.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was 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 valued at $22,263,071 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.