Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,993 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 39.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,765,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.5 %

Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

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.