Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 29.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,515 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,965 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Castleview Partners LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.4% in the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Elk River Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Somerville Kurt F grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the first quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 21,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO traded up $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $58.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,106,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,781,219. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The company had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.485 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.