Nemes Rush Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Nemes Rush Group LLC reduced its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,197 shares of the company’s stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KO. First National Advisers LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 982.6% in the 1st quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 67,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 61,266 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 148.4% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 2.0% in the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 146,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,510,000 after buying an additional 2,935 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 24.6% in the first quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 20,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after buying an additional 4,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in CocaCola by 13.3% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,916,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,090,000 after buying an additional 575,499 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $69.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $297.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.64 and its 200 day moving average is $69.40. 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 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.21.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 25.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current 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 is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 205,511 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.