Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 27,246 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in CocaCola Company by 69.4%, selling 27,246 shares and retaining 12,004 shares valued at $849,000.
• Insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares at an average price of $69.10, resulting in a total value of approximately $2.58 million.
• The CocaCola Company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, yielding around 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 72.34%.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC decreased its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 69.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,004 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,246 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 64.0% during the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 17,709 shares of the company's stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 6,909 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 29,595.7% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,830 shares of the company's stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,807 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 2.1% during the first quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,290 shares of the company's stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. The trade was a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $66.09 on Friday. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.96. The company has a market capitalization of $284.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's payout ratio is 72.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KO. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 11th. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of CocaCola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.93.

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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