Prudent Man Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,638 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,144 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on KO. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $306.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the 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 $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.