1,800 Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Purchased by Planned Solutions Inc.

Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,255,000 after buying an additional 43,680 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 385.3% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 15,110 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,115,000 after acquiring an additional 301,804 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $61.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.30. The firm has a market cap of $263.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.23%.

Coca-Cola 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.