Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lowered its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 210,939 shares of the company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $13,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $72.01 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.88 and a 200-day moving average of $66.78.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted 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. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.59.

Coca-Cola 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.