Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 162,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,958 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $10,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 25.0% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 17,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 182,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,116,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 21.4% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at about $412,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.06.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $72.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.37. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $59.72 and a twelve month high of $73.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.