AdvisorShares Investments LLC Invests $417,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 17,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,359,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,188,000 after buying an additional 549,215 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $150,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $479,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.06.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $72.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $311.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.