Capital Wealth Planning LLC Sells 3,433 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,433 shares during the quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,021,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,480,000 after purchasing an additional 351,462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on KO shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of 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. reduced their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.5 %

KO stock opened at $71.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $306.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.53 and its 200 day moving average is $66.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

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.