47,247 Shares in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Bought by Decatur Capital Management Inc.

Decatur Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 47,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,395,000. Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 1.6% of Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Apella Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday. Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE KO opened at $63.84 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.47 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $275.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.