21,064,749 Shares in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Acquired by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC invested approximately $1.51 billion in Coca-Cola by acquiring over 21 million shares, representing about 0.49% of the company's stock.
• CEO James Quincey sold over 266,000 shares in a transaction valued at nearly $19.2 million, reducing his ownership by 49.12%.
• Coca-Cola announced a dividend of $0.51 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.9%, to be paid on October 1st to shareholders of record.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 21,064,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,508,657,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.49% of CocaCola at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in CocaCola by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 19,102 shares of the company's stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the company's stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in CocaCola by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,853,295 shares of the company's stock worth $115,382,000 after acquiring an additional 46,687 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KO. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CocaCola presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of KO remained flat at $70.75 during midday trading on Tuesday. The stock had a trading volume of 11,060,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,526,525. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.98. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The stock has a market cap of $304.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.44.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's payout ratio is 72.34%.

Insider Activity

In other CocaCola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. The trade was a 15.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.