Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 33,673 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its Coca-Cola holdings by 2.0%, selling 33,673 shares, and now owns approximately 1.69 million shares valued at $120.77 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Coca-Cola, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which increased its position by over 8,400% during the first quarter.
• Coca-Cola has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, with a yield of 3.0%, and its payout ratio stands at 72.34%.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,686,234 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,673 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $120,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CocaCola by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 8,419.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $426,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891,034 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 119.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,458,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $588,871,000 after purchasing an additional 5,139,352 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in CocaCola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in CocaCola by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company's stock worth $1,529,537,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791,300 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CocaCola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $77.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $68.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.33 and a 200 day moving average of $69.64. The company has a market capitalization of $296.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.44. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 25.89%. CocaCola's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's payout ratio is 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.

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