Whipplewood Advisors LLC Invests $97,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 272,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,937,000 after buying an additional 25,588 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 51,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 8,644,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,233,000 after buying an additional 1,027,823 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 33,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 29,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.53 and its 200 day moving average is $66.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.