Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,579 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,008 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $6,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,383,000. Balentine LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after acquiring an additional 59,503 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,122,000 after purchasing an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 21,005 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.60.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE KO traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $61.72. 8,269,599 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,838,826. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.50. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a market cap of $265.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 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.