McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 352.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,724 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% in the first quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $70.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,087,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,165,565. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.76. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $53.86 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $303.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results 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. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total transaction of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,954,176.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is 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.