St. Louis Trust Co Increases Position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

St. Louis Trust Co lifted its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 23.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,962 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,033 shares during the period. St. Louis Trust Co’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in CocaCola during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in CocaCola by 360.0% during the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.88 on Friday. CocaCola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is 81.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.71.

About CocaCola

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.