Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 3,758 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,667,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,758 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $106,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $2,808,056,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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 worth $894,028,000 after acquiring an additional 814,779 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after acquiring an additional 378,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.20.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $68.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.46. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $69.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total value of $3,981,938.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,074,330.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 871,162 shares of company stock worth $571,697,887 over the last three months. 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.