The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by West Paces Advisors Inc.

West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,046 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,519 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola comprises 2.5% of West Paces Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. West Paces Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $11,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $24,472,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola 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 buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 145.6% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 64,128 shares of the company's stock worth $3,978,000 after buying an additional 38,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE KO traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $72.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,260,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,791,949. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The stock has a market cap of $311.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released 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. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were 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 now directly owns 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola 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.