4,352 Shares in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Bought by Vista Investment Partners II LLC

Vista Investment Partners II LLC purchased a new stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,513,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 121,279 shares of the company's stock worth $8,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 848,868 shares of the company's stock worth $52,851,000 after purchasing an additional 204,681 shares during the period. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 51,775 shares of the company's stock worth $3,224,000 after purchasing an additional 23,009 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of KO traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.42. The stock had a trading volume of 23,464,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,098,647. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.32. The company has a market cap of $303.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The company's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. CocaCola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KO. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.27.

CocaCola 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.