The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Howard Financial Services LTD.

Howard Financial Services LTD. lowered its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,408 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Exeter Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 27,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 14,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 56,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 11,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hiley Hunt Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.81.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $307.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $71.28 and its 200-day moving average is $67.20.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $3,941,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,533,008.09. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 229,761 shares of company stock worth $16,474,587. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.