First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,628 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,350 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $13,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Apella Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.5% in the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.3% during the third quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.8 %

KO stock opened at $70.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.72. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $53.86 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $303.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business 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 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on KO shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.