Keel Point LLC Acquires 993 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Keel Point LLC raised its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,358 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the quarter. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth about $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 16.7% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 41.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,255,000 after purchasing an additional 43,680 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 385.3% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 15,110 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 11.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,115,000 after acquiring an additional 301,804 shares in the last quarter. 68.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CFO John Murphy sold 156,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total value of $9,705,609.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 228,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,210,343. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 156,290 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total transaction of $9,705,609.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 228,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,210,343. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.66, for a total transaction of $3,133,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,984,378.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 227,364 shares of company stock worth $14,122,016. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wedbush increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $77.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.33.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $58.07. 3,021,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,102,536. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $54.01 and a 1 year high of $64.99. The company has a market cap of $251.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.25.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.74 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.06% and a net margin of 23.81%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 75.72%.

About Coca-Cola

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.