Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Grows Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. grew its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 140.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,540 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,149 shares during the period. Banco BTG Pactual S.A.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 12.6% in the third quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 17,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 81.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 10,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 4,669 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 6,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,810,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,977,000 after buying an additional 417,353 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.1 %

KO stock opened at $68.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.28 and a 200-day moving average of $66.40. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. 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 2.96%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

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.