Scotia Capital Inc. Trims Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.2% in Q1, owning 524,148 shares valued at $37.5 million after selling 17,559 shares.
• Several institutional investors like New Republic Capital LLC and BXM Wealth LLC increased their positions in Coca-Cola, demonstrating ongoing interest from institutional investors.
• Coca-Cola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, with a yield of 3.0%, to be paid on October 1st to record shareholders.

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 524,148 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,559 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $37,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. New Republic Capital LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the company's stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in CocaCola by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 20,099 shares of the company's stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. MBA Advisors LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 12,443 shares of the company's stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BXM Wealth LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 4.3% in the first quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 3,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective 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 report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.21.

CocaCola Stock Up 1.4%

KO stock opened at $68.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.64. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $296.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 25.89%. The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. CocaCola's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents 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 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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