Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,310 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,808,056,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,043,000 after buying an additional 4,928,441 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $193,342,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,051,000 after buying an additional 2,973,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.73.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE:KO traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.14. The company had a trading volume of 17,485,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,186,163. The company has a market capitalization of $306.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.54.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,398,603.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,398,603.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,074,910 shares of company stock worth $585,972,318. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by 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.