Kovack Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Kovack Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,611 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,019 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 19,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,356,000 after acquiring an additional 5,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the company'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 value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. 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 report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.21.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.18. 12,568,414 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,367,130. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.64 and a 200 day moving average of $69.40.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. CocaCola's payout ratio is 72.34%.

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.