Grove Bank & Trust Increases Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 49.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,092 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,643 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of Coca-Cola 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $70.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $303.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.94. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Coca-Cola's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Coca-Cola 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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