Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Has $948,000 Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,893 shares of the company’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,808,056,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after buying an additional 814,779 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after buying an additional 378,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $776,924,000 after buying an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $71.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.33 and a 200-day moving average of $63.46. The firm has a market capitalization 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. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.73.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total transaction of $1,224,645.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $14,168,055.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,074,910 shares of company stock valued at $585,972,318. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company 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.