Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Lowers Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,031,012 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,125 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $64,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443,612 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.0 %

Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.43. 6,824,580 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,118,582. The company has a market cap of $264.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.15 and a 200-day moving average of $66.55. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.