Lincoln National Corp Cuts Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Lincoln National Corp cut its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,560 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,662 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fielder Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $670,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 303,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,869,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 305,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,004,000 after buying an additional 14,386 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 33,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after buying an additional 5,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO traded up $0.19 on Monday, reaching $62.36. 9,309,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,967,127. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 323,107 shares of company stock worth $19,657,742 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.