The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 249.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,634 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,864 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the third 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,808,056,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7.7% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 2,893,061 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after purchasing an additional 814,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after purchasing an additional 378,447 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $63.28 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $64.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.78. The firm has a market cap of $272.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total transaction of $1,224,645.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

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.