Ancora Advisors LLC Acquires 3,435 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,528 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,549,000 after purchasing an additional 89,139 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 879,375 shares of company stock worth $571,502,245. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.4 %

Coca-Cola stock traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.72. The stock had a trading volume of 8,989,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,861,209. The company has a market capitalization of $287.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $67.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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.