D Orazio & Associates Inc. Raises Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 8.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,069 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at $18,383,000. Balentine LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 13,685 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after acquiring an additional 21,005 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 65.4% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 80,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,813,000 after acquiring an additional 31,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at $769,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.3 %

KO stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.03. The company had a trading volume of 3,136,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,247,840. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $56.70 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.18 and a 200 day moving average of $66.53. The company has a market cap of $271.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.80.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade 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. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 303,748 shares of company stock worth $20,677,431. Corporate 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.