Calamos Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 993,447 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,570 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $71,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CocaCola by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth $500,192,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 8,419.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company's stock worth $426,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891,034 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.4%

CocaCola stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,440,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,160,583. CocaCola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $306.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.50.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. CocaCola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CocaCola has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.27.

CocaCola 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.