Hennessy Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 146,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,450 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $9,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 193,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,038,000 after buying an additional 5,345 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $114,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 800.0% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 115,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,216,000 after buying an additional 103,018 shares during the last quarter. Cvfg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $565,000. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 33,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,066,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the 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 owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $62.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

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.