Securian Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,096 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,277 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $14,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth $2,513,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 3.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 121,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 848,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,851,000 after purchasing an additional 204,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. lifted its position in CocaCola by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 51,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,224,000 after buying an additional 23,009 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 research analyst reports. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of CocaCola 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Performance

CocaCola stock opened at $69.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10. CocaCola Company has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 81.60%.

CocaCola 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.