Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $205,000 Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.89 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. 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 price is $70.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, 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. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.