The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 976,938 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company has reduced its holdings in CocaCola Company by 29.1%, selling 976,938 shares to now own about 2.38 million shares valued at approximately $170.67 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their positions in CocaCola, including Wellington Management Group which raised its stake by 52.7%, now owning around 47.45 million shares valued at $3.4 billion.
• The CocaCola Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, with a yield of 3.0%, scheduled to be paid on October 1st to shareholders of record on September 15th.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 29.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,382,982 shares of the company's stock after selling 976,938 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of CocaCola worth $170,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in CocaCola during the first quarter valued at $1,508,657,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after buying an additional 16,383,870 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at about $642,183,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 8,419.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company's stock worth $426,927,000 after acquiring an additional 5,891,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 47.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 11,844,673 shares of the company's stock worth $848,315,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810,752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.21.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of CocaCola stock opened at $69.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock's fifty day moving average is $69.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.49. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $297.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.44.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

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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