Community Bank N.A. Reduces Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Community Bank N.A. decreased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 847 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $6,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,340,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,244,000 after buying an additional 191,712 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. Finally, Banco de Sabadell S.A grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 38,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after buying an additional 3,722 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $68.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.48. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. 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.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 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.