West Paces Advisors Inc. Raises Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,046 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,519 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola makes up about 2.5% of West Paces Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $11,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 23,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $71.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $308.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.39 and a 200 day moving average of $67.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KO. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company 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.