South Dakota Investment Council Sells 4,200 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,122 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,200 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in CocaCola were worth $8,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 360.0% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moser Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 449.5% in the 1st quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.71.

CocaCola Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:KO traded down $0.71 on Friday, reaching $69.88. 14,904,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,421,020. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $70.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.11. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. CocaCola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This trade 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. 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.