Morningstar Investment Services LLC Sells 33,722 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 55.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,740 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,722 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. Balentine LLC grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 246.1% in the 1st quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 70,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,058,000 after buying an additional 50,221 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC lifted its position in CocaCola by 1.5% in the first quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC now owns 33,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in CocaCola by 1.6% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 67,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, St. Louis Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 23.5% during the first quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 15,962 shares of the company's stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.62. The stock had a trading volume of 12,494,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,413,132. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $299.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G 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 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. CocaCola's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given 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 payout ratio is 81.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price target on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CocaCola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.13.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% 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.