Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Takes Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Client Services LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. Welch Group LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 256,665 shares of the company's stock worth $18,062,000 after buying an additional 7,228 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 85,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 71.1% in the first quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 150,786 shares of the company's stock worth $10,799,000 after purchasing an additional 62,665 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 8,419.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company's stock worth $426,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891,034 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KO. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.81.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $71.90. 5,547,530 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,709,047. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $71.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 55,500 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $3,941,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,533,008.09. This trade represents a 18.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 229,761 shares of company stock worth $16,474,587. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.