N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,972 shares of the company’s stock after selling 703 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $2,808,056,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928,441 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $193,342,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. Citigroup raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.73.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $67.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.46. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $306.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 value of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,074,910 shares of company stock worth $585,972,318 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.