Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,580 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $62.64. The company had a trading volume of 3,209,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,366,904. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $63.76. The stock has a market cap of $269.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.00 and its 200 day moving average is $59.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 199,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,322,179 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.58.

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.