Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Acquires 800 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,578 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KO. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after buying an additional 13,685 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after acquiring an additional 59,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 8,499 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $70.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $305.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.50. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.