Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 33,361 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 785,066 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,361 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $56,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 1.6% during the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 659,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,203,000 after buying an additional 10,678 shares during the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 2.4% during the first quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in CocaCola in the first quarter worth about $239,000. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its position in CocaCola by 1.9% in the first quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 24,706 shares of the company's stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. raised its position in CocaCola by 8.4% in the first quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,523 shares of the company's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CocaCola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% 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 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.27.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of KO traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.53. 33,690,781 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,278,732. CocaCola Company has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.02 and a 200 day moving average of $68.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $299.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.