Comerica Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Comerica Bank trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,474,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,093 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $91,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:KO opened at $72.37 on Wednesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $311.45 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.86 and a 200 day moving average of $66.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.06.

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.