Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Purchases 988 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,580 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola makes up 1.2% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,031,669,000 after acquiring an additional 10,722,435 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 164.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,981,000 after acquiring an additional 8,979,379 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,373,000 after acquiring an additional 4,095,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,602,980. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.49. The stock had a trading volume of 11,501,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,266,194. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.27. The stock has a market cap of $260.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $51.55 and a 12 month high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 78.23%.

Coca-Cola 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.