Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 3,700 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 244,961 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,700 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $17,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $70.94 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $305.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.84. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 81.60%.

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.