Fermata Advisors LLC Takes $459,000 Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fermata Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 23,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.81.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the firm'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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 440,664 shares of company stock valued at $31,730,532 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $70.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The business's fifty day moving average price is $71.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.51. 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.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

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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