Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 56.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,361 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,982 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KO. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,472,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 28,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO stock traded down $1.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.94. The stock had a trading volume of 17,424,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,884,646. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The stock's 50 day moving average is $71.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.87. 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 $305.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Coca-Cola's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.