The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Position Lessened by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 306,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,522 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $22,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.3% during the first quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 4,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 68,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter worth $102,604,000. Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.5% in the first quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 54,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,332,000 after purchasing an additional 6,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodds Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at $207,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:KO opened at $64.43 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.47 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on KO. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.36.

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.