Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 402 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,711 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 26,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth about $537,000. Van Strum & Towne Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,014,029 shares of company stock valued at $581,682,074 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of KO stock traded up $1.07 on Monday, hitting $70.86. 12,910,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,989,852. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.74 and a 200 day moving average of $62.73. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $70.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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.