The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Sold by Portfolio Design Labs LLC

Portfolio Design Labs LLC lowered its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 22.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,316 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,878 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during 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 buying an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,475 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,479,000 after purchasing an additional 177,241 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,793,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,468,000 after purchasing an additional 222,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,433,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $62.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $56.96 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.55.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. Coca-Cola’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This trade represents a 7.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $2,968,637.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $30,987,070.92. This represents a 8.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,693,244. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.