St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Sells 698 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC reduced its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,969 shares of the company’s stock after selling 698 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola makes up 1.2% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $64.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.69. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.36. The stock has a market cap of $275.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were 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 owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 223,665 shares of company stock valued at $13,995,465. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

About Coca-Cola

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.