Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 49.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404,936 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 133,205 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $25,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KO. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.20 on Monday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a market cap of $306.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.53 and its 200 day moving average is $66.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.