The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Connors Investor Services Inc.

Connors Investor Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 167,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,968 shares during the quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $10,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $72.37 on Wednesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $70.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $311.45 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 82.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company 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.