High Falls Advisors Inc Has $325,000 Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

High Falls Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,309 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $2,808,056,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after acquiring an additional 814,779 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after acquiring an additional 378,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BNP Paribas started coverage on Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.20.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of KO stock traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,245,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,893,741. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $67.83. The company has a market cap of $291.52 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.61. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 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 $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total value of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,954,176.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total transaction of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,954,176.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 879,375 shares of company stock worth $571,502,245. 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.