Coho Partners Ltd. Reduces Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Coho Partners Ltd. reduced its stake in Coca-Cola by 15.2%, selling 86,440 shares and bringing its total holdings to 480,625 shares valued at approximately $34 million.
• Coca-Cola recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, which will be paid on December 15th, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.0%.
• Analysts are generally positive on Coca-Cola, with an average price target of $76.69, and a majority rating it as a "Buy" or better.

Coho Partners Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 15.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 480,625 shares of the company's stock after selling 86,440 shares during the quarter. CocaCola accounts for 2.5% of Coho Partners Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Coho Partners Ltd.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $34,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the first quarter valued at $1,508,657,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in CocaCola by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after buying an additional 16,383,870 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at about $642,183,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in CocaCola by 47.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 11,844,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $848,315,000 after buying an additional 3,810,752 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in CocaCola by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 21,236,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,554,074,000 after buying an additional 2,922,619 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $67.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.43. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.75.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. Equities research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on CocaCola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $76.69.

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.

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