CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,697,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 70,400 shares during the period. CocaCola comprises 0.6% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in CocaCola were worth $122,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. WMG Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in CocaCola in the first quarter worth approximately $228,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in CocaCola by 3.5% in the first quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,399,966 shares of the company's stock worth $267,186,000 after buying an additional 115,445 shares in the last quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society raised its stake in CocaCola by 62.1% in the first quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society now owns 208,310 shares of the company's stock worth $14,919,000 after buying an additional 79,830 shares in the last quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 0.5% in the first quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 35,092 shares of the company's stock worth $2,513,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors raised its stake in CocaCola by 19.5% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 13,853 shares of the company's stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 2,265 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KO. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price target on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CocaCola has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.13.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.67. The company had a trading volume of 22,327,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,468,765. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $299.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $70.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.17.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

CocaCola 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.