Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 22,501 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.0%, owning 396,502 shares valued at approximately $28.4 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Multiple hedge funds significantly boosted their holdings in Coca-Cola, with Capital International Investors growing its stake by 96.0% and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing theirs by an astonishing 8,419.4%.
• Coca-Cola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.9%, with the payment date set for October 1.

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 396,502 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 22,501 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $28,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 8,419.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $426,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891,034 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 119.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,458,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $588,871,000 after purchasing an additional 5,139,352 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 497.0% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,489,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,548,000 after purchasing an additional 3,737,646 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.21.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CocaCola stock traded down $0.11 on Friday, hitting $70.32. The company had a trading volume of 9,229,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,864,419. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.44. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.13 and a 200-day moving average of $69.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.21.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

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 $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the company'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 value of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.97% 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.