Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 402,475 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC sold 402,475 shares of CocaCola (KO), reducing its stake by 30.4% in Q1, resulting in total holdings of 921,552 shares worth approximately $65.99 million.
• Despite the sale, institutional investors own 70.26% of CocaCola's stock, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.
• CocaCola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, yielding approximately 3.0%, to be distributed on October 1st to shareholders on record from September 15th.

Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 30.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 921,552 shares of the company's stock after selling 402,475 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $65,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New Republic Capital LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 2.1% during the first quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 0.7% during the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 20,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 1.2% during the first quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 12,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, BXM Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 4.3% during the first quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 3,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CocaCola presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.93.

CocaCola Price Performance

NYSE KO traded down $0.62 on Friday, reaching $67.00. 18,684,181 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,985,507. CocaCola 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 1.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.37. The stock has a market cap of $288.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.43.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 25.89%.The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. CocaCola has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.970-2.970 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.34%.

CocaCola 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.