B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 109,426 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,777 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Apella Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.5% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.3% in the third quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the third quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on KO. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given 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 $72.50.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $63.12 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.47 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.41 and its 200 day moving average is $66.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $271.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid 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 3.07%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.