First Manhattan CO. LLC. Reduces Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. reduced its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 879,875 shares of the company's stock after selling 267,402 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $54,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,299,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 107,278 shares of the company's stock worth $6,679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,265 shares during the last quarter. Family Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 848,868 shares of the company's stock worth $52,851,000 after acquiring an additional 204,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 12,387,869 shares of the company's stock worth $771,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361,373 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.5%

KO stock traded down $1.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $69.50. The company had a trading volume of 21,507,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,539,506. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.60%.

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.