Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 303,864 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 57.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 221,814 shares of the company’s stock after selling 303,864 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $13,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KO. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 6,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045 shares during the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 42,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 55,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,458,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of KO opened at $68.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.00 and a 200 day moving average of $66.52. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio 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.