CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Stake Boosted by Cooper Financial Group

Key Points

• Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in CocaCola Company by 21.7%, acquiring an additional 3,711 shares to own a total of 20,781 shares valued at approximately $1.49 million.
• Insider sales included Nikolaos Koumettis selling 37,396 shares for about $2.58 million and CEO James Quincey selling 266,403 shares worth approximately $19.2 million, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership.
• CocaCola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.9%, with the next payout scheduled for October 1st.

Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 21.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,781 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,711 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group's holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in CocaCola by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in CocaCola by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 19,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in CocaCola by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in CocaCola by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,853,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,382,000 after purchasing an additional 46,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KO shares. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, 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. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

NYSE:KO remained flat at $70.75 during trading hours on Tuesday. 11,060,613 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,526,525. The stock has a market cap of $304.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.02.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.9%. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About CocaCola

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.