The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by Mainsail Financial Group LLC

Mainsail Financial Group LLC increased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,823 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.8%

Coca-Cola stock opened at $72.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.72. 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 stock has a market cap of $311.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.