Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 584 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,381 shares of the company’s stock after selling 584 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $2,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,566,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,529,537,000 after buying an additional 3,791,300 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.71.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.89 on Monday. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.90. The company has a market capitalization of $300.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

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

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.