Fairway Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 1,000 The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during 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 raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on KO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $71.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $307.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently 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.