Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Raises Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,890 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth $36,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.37 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $307.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.54%.

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.