Calamos Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 993,447 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,570 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $71,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in CocaCola by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 19,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 6,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 152,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,520,000 after purchasing an additional 43,836 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.27.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $71.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The stock has a market cap of $306.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.50.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 187,716 shares in the company, 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 sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.