Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Purchases 10,965 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 29.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 48,515 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,965 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the first quarter worth about $31,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, reaching $58.91. 11,106,106 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,781,219. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.52. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $253.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.23%.

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.