Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,881 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,566 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 11,138.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933,527 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 2,464,618 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 8.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,503,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KO. Citigroup boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.17. The stock had a trading volume of 11,628,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,782,690. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.06. The firm has a market cap of $268.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $64.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 323,107 shares of company stock valued at $19,657,742. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.