Blair William & Co. IL Sells 18,225 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL sold 18,225 shares of Coca-Cola, reducing their position by 1.2%, while maintaining a total of 1,547,803 shares valued at approximately $110.85 million.
• Insiders at Coca-Cola have also significantly reduced their stakes, with CFO John Murphy selling 88,658 shares and EVP Beatriz R. Perez selling 60,326 shares, reflecting a decline of 30.14% and 24.32% in their respective positions.
• Coca-Cola recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, representing a 3.0% yield, with the dividend payout ratio currently at 72.34%.

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,547,803 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,225 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in CocaCola were worth $110,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in CocaCola by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 19,102 shares of the company's stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 39,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in CocaCola by 159.4% in the fourth quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 30,975 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 19,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was 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 owned 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Stock Up 1.4%

KO opened at $68.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.64. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The firm's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.21.

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.

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