Rational Advisors Inc. Buys New Shares in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Rational Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of CocaCola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 21.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 8,419.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company's stock worth $426,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 119.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,458,248 shares of the company's stock worth $588,871,000 after purchasing an additional 5,139,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $69.89 on Friday. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.82. The stock has a market cap of $300.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. CocaCola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

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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