Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,487,846 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,155 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $106,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in CocaCola in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. grew its stake in CocaCola by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

CocaCola Price Performance

NYSE:KO traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $69.15. The stock had a trading volume of 15,978,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,923,211. The firm has a market capitalization of $297.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.46. CocaCola Company has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. CocaCola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

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.