Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 56,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,318,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 136,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,028,000 after acquiring an additional 4,943 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $295,000. Finally, Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 60,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.0 %

KO traded up $0.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $61.77. 3,218,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,854,685. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.89. The firm has a market cap of $266.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.69.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from 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, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction 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 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.