Rafferty Asset Management LLC Decreases Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC sold 69,539 shares of CocaCola Company, reducing its stake by 20.7% in the first quarter, now holding 266,985 shares worth about $19.1 million.
• The company's stock has seen a slight decline of 0.2%, with current share prices at $68.81, while its 12-month price range is between $60.62 and $74.38.
• CocaCola recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.87, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, effective October 1st.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 20.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 266,985 shares of the company's stock after selling 69,539 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $19,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Republic Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 20,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 12,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, BXM Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 3,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of CocaCola stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.01. 14,595,565 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,733,939. The company has a market capitalization of $297.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.48. 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 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 25.89%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.970-2.970 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.