The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Position Reduced by Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,191 shares of the company’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $71.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $307.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. 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 2.86%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 81.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.81.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 440,664 shares of company stock valued at $31,730,532 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.