Ballentine Partners LLC Has $5.10 Million Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,972 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,345,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,745,000 after buying an additional 6,120 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $252,000. Sky Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 138,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 10,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc increased its position in Coca-Cola by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 15,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $62.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $62.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $270.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KO. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.13.

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.