Montecito Bank & Trust Decreases Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Montecito Bank & Trust lessened its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,647 shares during the period. Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 1.3% of Montecito Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 47,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 29.0% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 13,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 2,990 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the first quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 15,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 191.1% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 111,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 73,434 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.5% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 140,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,600,000 after acquiring an additional 4,754 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $30,987,070.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 203,748 shares of company stock worth $14,274,431 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted 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. Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $63.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $274.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.90 and a 200-day moving average of $66.43. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $56.06 and a 12-month high of $73.53.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.