Everhart Financial Group Inc. Buys 3,172 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,446 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $31,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on KO. BNP Paribas began coverage on Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.20.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE KO traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.77. 11,827,571 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,990,292. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.69. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $70.13.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total value of $1,224,645.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total value of $1,224,645.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,168,055.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,014,029 shares of company stock valued at $581,682,074. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.