Ballast Inc. Has $788,000 Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ballast Inc. cut its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KO. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 171,246,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,390,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,772 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,503,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950,146 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,501,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,618 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,672,479,000 after buying an additional 57,678,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $2,937,315,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:KO opened at $61.16 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.32.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The company had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the 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 directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,602,980. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.