Wintrust Investments LLC Has $74,000 Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Wintrust Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,188 shares of the company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $74,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in Coca-Cola by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 80,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,813,000 after buying an additional 31,979 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 47,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,425,000 after buying an additional 4,613 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 94,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,808,000 after buying an additional 7,540 shares during the period. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 8,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $69.59 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.63. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $299.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

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.