Meridian Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Meridian Financial LLC purchased a new stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 360.0% during the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $70.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.32. CocaCola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 275,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.27.

About CocaCola

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.