CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. cut its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 17.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,512 shares of the company’s stock after selling 745 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CocaCola by 4.2% in the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. now owns 4,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 3.1% during the first quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.6%

KO opened at $70.77 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.40. 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 stock has a market cap of $304.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.46. CocaCola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KO. UBS Group upped their price objective on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.27.

CocaCola 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.