The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 92.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,493 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.4 %

KO opened at $65.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $281.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.06 and a 200-day moving average of $66.45. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $56.06 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on KO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total value of $2,804,826.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,150,619.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 203,748 shares of company stock valued at $14,274,431 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.