Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Grows Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,945 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 13,685 shares during the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 8,499 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.48 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.33. The company has a market cap of $299.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.