First Financial Bank Trust Division Buys 351 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,838 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.7 %

KO stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Thursday, reaching $61.84. 10,710,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,973,826. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $63.58 and its 200 day moving average is $66.56. The firm has a market cap of $266.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.50.

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.