Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Purchases 6,800 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,861 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,800 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KO. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.63 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 stock has a market cap of $299.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.85 and a 200-day moving average of $66.55.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised 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 Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

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.