CapWealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

CapWealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 186,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $10,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,255,000 after buying an additional 43,680 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 385.3% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 15,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 11.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,115,000 after purchasing an additional 301,804 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.4 %

Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.73. The stock had a trading volume of 4,228,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,687,251. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The company had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.23%.

Coca-Cola 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.