CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,648 shares of the company’s stock after selling 624 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $3,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 360.0% in the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moser Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 449.5% in the first quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KO. Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.71.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO opened at $69.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.96. The company has a market cap of $298.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Insider Activity

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

CocaCola 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.