Sargent Investment Group LLC Trims Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sargent Investment Group LLC cut its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,402 shares of the company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $785,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,048,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,632,000 after acquiring an additional 58,684 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 37,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 18,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,054,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.22.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $61.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.89. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.69.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.