Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $7.20 Million Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 19.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,540 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,460 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. The trade was a 32.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 440,664 shares of company stock worth $31,730,532. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.81.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The company has a market cap of $307.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.63.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Coca-Cola Company 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.