Ames National Corp Purchases New Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ames National Corp purchased a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Hoey Investments Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.3%

KO stock opened at $71.69 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $70.96 and its 200 day moving average is $66.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $308.57 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

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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