Apella Capital LLC Acquires 2,790 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,387 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,808,056,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $894,028,000 after acquiring an additional 814,779 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,866,000 after acquiring an additional 378,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,523,000 after buying an additional 1,949,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KO. TD Cowen raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.20.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded up $0.43 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.48. 13,362,912 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,086,158. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $69.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.24 and a 200-day moving average of $61.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Henrique Braun sold 57,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.08, for a total transaction of $3,614,357.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,309,555.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 937,334 shares of company stock worth $575,874,057. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.