M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 27,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,681,000. Coca-Cola makes up 1.8% of M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at $36,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KO. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.13.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $62.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $62.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.43. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.