Nwam LLC Trims Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Nwam LLC reduced its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 291 shares during the period. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 39.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,765,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,921,241 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE KO opened at $70.93 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.36 and its 200 day moving average is $66.50.

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 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KO. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

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.