Becker Capital Management Inc. Has $337,000 Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Becker Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 53.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,411 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,190 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 17,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 182,521 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,116,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.4% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,711 shares of the company's stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthquest Corp bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $72.56 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.58. The company has a market cap of $312.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.59.

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.

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