CenterBook Partners LP Sells 165,520 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

CenterBook Partners LP cut its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 86.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,213 shares of the company's stock after selling 165,520 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,869,202,000 after buying an additional 1,114,422 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in CocaCola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CocaCola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE KO traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $70.17. The company had a trading volume of 7,695,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,361,513. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $70.73 and its 200 day moving average is $69.01. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-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.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during 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%. CocaCola's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CocaCola Company 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.