Balentine LLC Buys 50,221 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Balentine LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 246.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,629 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 50,221 shares during the quarter. CocaCola accounts for about 0.2% of Balentine LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Balentine LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $5,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC boosted its position in CocaCola by 1.5% during the first quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC now owns 33,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in CocaCola by 1.6% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 67,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. St. Louis Trust Co boosted its position in CocaCola by 23.5% during the first quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 15,962 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its position in CocaCola by 1.2% during the first quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 128,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in CocaCola during the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CocaCola has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Trading Down 1.0%

KO traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.88. 14,904,122 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,421,020. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $70.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

About CocaCola

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.