CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Bought by Rathbones Group PLC

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in CocaCola by 2.7%, making the beverage company its 10th largest position, with shares valued at approximately $412 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold over 37,000 shares, decreasing his ownership by 15.15%, while CEO James Quincey sold over 266,000 shares, reducing his stake by 49.12%.
• The company recently reported earnings per share of $0.87 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, along with declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.9%.

Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,754,838 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 149,238 shares during the quarter. CocaCola makes up about 2.0% of Rathbones Group PLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.13% of CocaCola worth $412,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KO. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in CocaCola during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in CocaCola by 360.0% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 148.4% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 477 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price target on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CocaCola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. The trade was a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO stock traded down $0.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $69.57. 10,708,941 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,931,184. 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 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.02. The stock has a market cap of $299.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.44.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12.50 billion for 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 company's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

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.