The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC cut its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 73.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,302 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964,850 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth about $188,448,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth approximately $157,087,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 42.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,245,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $70.44 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.76. The company has a market cap of $303.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a PEG 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. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $53.86 and a one year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total value of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,954,176.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,954,176.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364. 0.97% of the stock is currently 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.