Chapman Investment Management LLC Invests $208,000 in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Chapman Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 213.3% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 64.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 36.1% during the third quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.22.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock remained flat at $61.74 during midday trading on Friday. 10,994,262 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,842,353. The company has a market cap of $266.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.82.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

About Coca-Cola

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.