Finward Bancorp Invests $947,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Finward Bancorp bought a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 15,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $947,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of KO opened at $72.43 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.78 and a 200 day moving average of $66.32. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.95. 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 $311.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.