The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Bought by Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,563 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,021,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,480,000 after purchasing an additional 351,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO opened at $71.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $308.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.03 and a 200-day moving average of $66.44. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

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.