St. Clair Advisors LLC Takes $3.16 Million Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

St. Clair Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 50,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,164,000. Coca-Cola makes up 0.9% of St. Clair Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $72.01 on Monday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.88 and its 200 day moving average is $66.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $309.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

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.