Shelton Capital Management Grows Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Shelton Capital Management grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,673 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,693 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $15,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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 Down 2.4 %

Coca-Cola stock opened at $68.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

About Coca-Cola

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.