Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP Reduces Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lowered its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 74.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 539,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,594,635 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 2.6% of Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $38,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KO. Apella Capital LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.14.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,388,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,520,128. The company has a market capitalization of $272.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.47 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The firm 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 for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors 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 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Coca-Cola 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.