Smith Salley Wealth Management Increases Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,933 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $4,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after buying an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $188,448,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth $157,087,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,104,000 after buying an additional 2,443,612 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $66.92 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $288.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 319,005 shares of company stock valued at $22,198,147. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

About Coca-Cola

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.