Gray Wealth Management Inc. Sells 1,133 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,991 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,133 shares during the period. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,672,479,000 after acquiring an additional 57,678,466 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,031,669,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722,435 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 164.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,979,379 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,764,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,373,000 after buying an additional 4,095,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $58.91. 11,108,023 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,781,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $64.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

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.