The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Bought by Americana Partners LLC

Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,340 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $6,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 78,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,650,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 54,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,935,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Coca-Cola by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 20,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 27,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 102,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,330,000 after purchasing an additional 7,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on KO. Citigroup increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $2,968,637.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 261,870 shares of company stock valued at $18,256,369. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO traded down $0.24 on Friday, hitting $65.07. 3,266,312 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,214,655. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $56.06 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.21.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.