Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,200,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $74,747,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO traded up $0.70 on Wednesday, reaching $72.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,017,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,462,934. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. 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 firm has a market cap of $311.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 2.82%. 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 at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at $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 a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.59.

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.