Naviter Wealth LLC Purchases 14,400 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 50.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,192 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,400 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,549,000 after purchasing an additional 89,139 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,738,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,962.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.14. 8,877,389 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,067,504. The stock has a market capitalization of $272.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $64.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.81.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.83.

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.