Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,955 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,340 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,955 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.1% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 17,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 27.6% in the third quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,424 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% during the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 25,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.1% during the third quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 18,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.7% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Barclays increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.22.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO remained flat at $61.74 on Friday. 10,994,262 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,842,353. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.82. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.69. The firm has a market cap of $266.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.23%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Company 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.