Brookstone Capital Management Trims Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Brookstone Capital Management lowered its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO – Get Rating) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,253 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,489 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KO. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 20.0% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 99,695,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,271,819,000 after purchasing an additional 16,606,701 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 301,952,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,915,357,000 after purchasing an additional 4,994,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 61.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,373,000 after buying an additional 4,095,881 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 141.0% during the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,834,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,865,000 after buying an additional 3,998,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,258,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,349,737,000 after buying an additional 3,864,004 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $67.00 price objective on Coca-Cola in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $69.00 price objective on Coca-Cola in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.70.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $60.02 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $54.01 and a 12-month high of $67.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The business had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.92 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.35% and a net margin of 22.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Brian John Smith sold 126,972 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.07, for a total transaction of $7,881,152.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,210,547.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 46,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.50, for a total transaction of $2,808,470.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 592,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,849,033. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian John Smith sold 126,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.07, for a total value of $7,881,152.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,210,547.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 282,268 shares of company stock valued at $17,137,823. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Coca-Cola

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The Coca-Cola Co engages in the manufacturing and marketing of non-alcoholic beverages. It operates through the following segments: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, Global Ventures, and Bottling Investments. The company was founded by Asa Griggs Candler on May 8, 1886 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.