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

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 306,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,061,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.8%

Coca-Cola stock opened at $70.62 on Monday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The stock has a market cap of $303.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.63. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Coca-Cola's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.