Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $13 Million Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in CocaCola Company by 13.3%, selling 27,748 shares and ending the quarter with 181,546 shares valued at approximately $13 million.
• CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola for around $19.2 million, significantly decreasing his ownership by 49.12%.
• CocaCola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51, scheduled for payment on October 1st, with a current annualized yield of 2.9%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,546 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,748 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in CocaCola were worth $13,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock worth $25,869,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,422 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 18,408,210 shares of the company's stock worth $1,148,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,769,958 shares of the company's stock worth $1,106,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,284,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

CocaCola Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:KO traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.32. The stock had a trading volume of 9,229,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,864,419. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.83. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The firm has a market cap of $302.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.44.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors 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 2.9%. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

CocaCola 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.