CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,429 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,728 shares during the period. CocaCola comprises 2.7% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $12,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CocaCola in the 4th quarter worth about $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.27.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $70.42 on Monday. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $303.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50 day moving average price is $71.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.35.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The firm's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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