Inspire Advisors LLC Takes $1.24 Million Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 19,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rice Partnership LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 8,499 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 5.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,122,000 after purchasing an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.47 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a market cap of $307.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $65.55 and a 200-day moving average of $66.57.

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, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.