Callan Capital LLC Invests $224,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Callan Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KO. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Avion Wealth grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 64.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 36.1% in the third quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 928 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. Citigroup raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO remained flat at $61.74 during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 10,994,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,842,353. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.12 and its 200-day moving average is $58.82. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $64.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

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.