Advisor Resource Council Purchases 17,642 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Advisor Resource Council grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 351.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,656 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,642 shares during the quarter. Advisor Resource Council’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth $25,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 545 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO traded up $0.02 on Friday, reaching $60.49. The company had a trading volume of 11,501,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,266,194. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.27. The company has a market cap of $260.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.23%.

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.