The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by HUB Investment Partners LLC

HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 35.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,146 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,110 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 281,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,556,000 after purchasing an additional 15,735 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 196,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,243,000 after purchasing an additional 50,577 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,681,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,720,000 after acquiring an additional 44,630 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 57,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $69.33 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.69 and a 200-day moving average of $66.53. 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 $298.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Company 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.