AlphaQuest LLC Decreases Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 92.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,646 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,153 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. Rice Partnership LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 8,499 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,122,000 after purchasing an additional 46,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.7 %

KO opened at $69.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $297.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.61. 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 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 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

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.