Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 655.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,573 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,278 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $3,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola 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 period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of CocaCola 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 acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in CocaCola by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,529,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on KO. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.27.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $306.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.50. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. 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 (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.60%.

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.