Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Sells 32,917 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA trimmed its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 245,049 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,917 shares during the period. Coca-Cola makes up 2.6% of Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $17,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $2,513,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 10,240 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 848,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,851,000 after purchasing an additional 204,681 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 196,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,257,000 after purchasing an additional 4,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,484,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $652,767,000 after purchasing an additional 783,161 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of KO stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,251,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,360,447. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.72. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $310.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Coca-Cola

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.