HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Sells 2,116 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC reduced its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,354 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,116 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.4% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 80,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,813,000 after purchasing an additional 31,979 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.5% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at approximately $932,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 47,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KO. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 288,146 shares of company stock worth $20,456,524 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $300.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.