Townsquare Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 374,001 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,123 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $23,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.35 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.95. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $307.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

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.