Welch Group LLC Raises Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 256,665 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,228 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $18,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.81.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.13. The stock had a trading volume of 28,013,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,764,664. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.26. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The stock has a market cap of $310.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The firm 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 earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 55,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $3,941,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,533,008.09. The trade was a 18.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 229,761 shares of company stock valued at $16,474,587 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.