Hickory Point Bank & Trust Invests $650,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the fourth 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. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

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.