11,528 Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Purchased by Madison Investment Advisors LLC

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 11,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $3,060,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,719,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,081,000 after acquiring an additional 9,015 shares during the last quarter. VanWeelden Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. DecisionMap Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,584,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 197.8% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on KO. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $68.58 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.00 and a 200 day moving average of $66.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.