Millstone Evans Group LLC Boosts Stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Millstone Evans Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 27.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,644 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $118,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lauterbach Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $213,000. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in CocaCola in the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 1,300.5% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 543,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,958,000 after purchasing an additional 505,112 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 19.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 17,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its position in CocaCola by 0.5% in the first quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 57,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,143,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CocaCola has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.71.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO opened at $69.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.17. CocaCola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. CocaCola’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.