New Century Financial Group LLC Has $430,000 Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

New Century Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 48.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,009 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,713 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Coca-Cola 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 buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.94. The company had a trading volume of 17,424,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,853,824. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $305.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of Coca-Cola 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade 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, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their position. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

About Coca-Cola

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.