Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Increases Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,863 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,182 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $2,513,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 848,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,851,000 after acquiring an additional 204,681 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,484,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,767,000 after acquiring an additional 783,161 shares in the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 80.0% in the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 51,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after purchasing an additional 23,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $416,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on KO. DZ Bank upgraded 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of KO stock opened at $72.03 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

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

Coca-Cola 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.