Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $11.91 Million Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. decreased its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 191,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $11,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at $228,000. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 22,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 409,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,793 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $306.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

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.