CoreFirst Bank & Trust Sells 5,842 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust lowered its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,927 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,842 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $2,808,056,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,664 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,564,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,390,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,893,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after buying an additional 814,779 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $62.62 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $64.36.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KO shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total value of $1,224,645.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total value of $1,224,645.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $561,812.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,774 shares of company stock worth $8,952,720 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola 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.