Proficio Capital Partners LLC Increases Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,843 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,426 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 691 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:KO opened at $68.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.48. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $295.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G 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 data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.