CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Stratos Investment Management LLC

Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 24.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,916 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,886 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $2,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 8,419.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,927,000 after acquiring an additional 5,891,034 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 119.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,458,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,871,000 after acquiring an additional 5,139,352 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction 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 valued at $29,923,985. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $70.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $305.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 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.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. 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.