Searle & CO. Sells 3,684 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Searle & CO. lessened its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 27.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,684 shares during the quarter. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 67.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 78,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,821,000 after acquiring an additional 31,740 shares during the last quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth about $126,000. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,487,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,178,133. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $291.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.94.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 356,792 shares of company stock worth $24,728,364 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola 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.