First National Advisers LLC Acquires 61,266 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 982.6%, acquiring 61,266 shares to own a total of 67,501 shares valued at approximately $4.83 million.
• Insider trading activity saw EVP Beatriz R. Perez and CFO John Murphy sell significant portions of their shares, with Perez selling 60,326 shares and Murphy selling 88,658 shares.
• Coca-Cola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, payable on October 1st, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.95%.

First National Advisers LLC boosted its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 982.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,501 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 61,266 shares during the period. CocaCola makes up about 0.8% of First National Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $4,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 148.4% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 477 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 146,749 shares of the company's stock worth $10,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lifted its position in CocaCola by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 20,695 shares of the company's stock worth $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 4,086 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in CocaCola by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,916,078 shares of the company's stock worth $352,090,000 after acquiring an additional 575,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC lifted its position in CocaCola by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company's stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, 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 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 CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were 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 directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.24. 7,712,511 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,220,338. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.49. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a market cap of $293.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 25.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price objective on CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.21.

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.