Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 22,642 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,191,131 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,642 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $74,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.69 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.90 and a 200 day moving average of $66.54. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $308.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Coca-Cola's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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