Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257,706 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,484 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $16,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KO. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen 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 note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.