Captrust Financial Advisors Lowers Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Captrust Financial Advisors reduced its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,585,381 shares of the company's stock after selling 715,020 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $98,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company's stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company's stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company's stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.0 %

KO stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.42. The company had a trading volume of 15,017,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,462,934. The company has a market capitalization of $311.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.94 and a 200 day moving average of $66.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Coca-Cola's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

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.