Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,993 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 77,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,825,000 after buying an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 30,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. HC Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. HC Advisors LLC now owns 7,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,484,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,767,000 after purchasing an additional 783,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 18,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.53. The company has a market cap of $306.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.