Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Acquires New Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KO. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $2,513,000. Rice Partnership LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company's stock worth $6,397,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,708 shares of the company's stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 10,240 shares in the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 218,985 shares of the company's stock worth $13,634,000 after acquiring an additional 30,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 7,238,640 shares of the company's stock valued at $447,963,000 after buying an additional 22,904 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 229,761 shares of company stock worth $16,474,587 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised 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. Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.81.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of KO stock traded up $0.18 on Thursday, hitting $71.33. The stock had a trading volume of 5,183,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,655,468. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.23 and a 200 day moving average of $67.14. The stock has a market cap of $307.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. 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 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

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.