Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 45,838 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.7%, selling 45,838 shares and retaining approximately 6.54 million shares valued at around $459.84 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Coca-Cola, with Vanguard Group lifting its ownership by 0.3% and Wellington Management Group increasing its stake by 52.7% during the first quarter.
• Coca-Cola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51, with a payout scheduled for December 15, representing an annualized yield of 3.0% and a current payout ratio of 72.34%.

Nordea Investment Management AB lowered its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,542,059 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,838 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.15% of CocaCola worth $459,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,869,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,422 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in CocaCola by 52.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after acquiring an additional 16,383,870 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 6.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,889,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,212,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,561 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in CocaCola by 16.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 21,236,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,554,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,922,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter worth about $1,508,657,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $67.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. CocaCola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The firm has a market cap of $290.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50-day moving average price is $67.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.75.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion for the quarter. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. On average, analysts anticipate 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 Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.69.

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.

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