Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Sells 934 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 934 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 48,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 25,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 107,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,352,000 after purchasing an additional 18,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on KO. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned 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 $68.27.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.85. 10,301,325 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,879,216. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $64.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.30.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 380,405 shares of company stock valued at $23,209,645. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Company 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.