Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC Trims Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,326 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,257 shares during the period. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $500,192,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at $269,382,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.16 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $297.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. 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 data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.