Colonial Trust Co SC Raises Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,450 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,295 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 181 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.1 %

KO stock opened at $71.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $308.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on KO. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola 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.