Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases 4,022 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,267 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,022 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,501,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,618 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,514,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,963 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.09.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $61.74. 19,022,088 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,033,627. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.74. The company has a market cap of $266.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.69.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.