Ashburton Jersey Ltd Makes New $828,000 Investment in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 13,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $828,000. Coca-Cola accounts for 0.3% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KO. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.01 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.07.

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.