Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 2,183 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,703 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,183 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO opened at $70.36 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.41. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $302.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its 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 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 year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. 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. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KO. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

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.