Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New Investment in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 792,052 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,313,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company's stock worth $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total transaction of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 52,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $71.69. 12,626,934 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,427,278. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.90 and a 200-day moving average of $66.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $308.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KO shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.59.

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.