Montag A & Associates Inc. Has $34.45 Million Stock Position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 477,629 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,863 shares during the period. CocaCola accounts for 1.7% of Montag A & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $34,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,529,537,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of CocaCola 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CocaCola Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CocaCola stock opened at $69.88 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $70.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.11. The company has a market cap of $300.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. CocaCola's payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

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.

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