Calton & Associates Inc. Takes Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth approximately $102,604,000. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $7,421,000. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 191.1% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 111,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 73,434 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.7% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,935,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,578,000 after acquiring an additional 20,048 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 11.6% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 226,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,013,000 after purchasing an additional 23,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $69.45 on Wednesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $54.04 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $299.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G 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.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total value of $1,274,333.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,398,603.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

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.