Morton Community Bank Has $3.11 Million Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Morton Community Bank boosted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,008 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,458,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,818,000 after purchasing an additional 20,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $307.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.56.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

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.