Wexford Capital LP Lowers Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Wexford Capital LP cut its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,047 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,073 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hoey Investments Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays reiterated 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $72.01 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.78. 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 company has a market capitalization of $309.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 81.60%.

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.