Access Financial Services Inc. Purchases 7,360 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Access Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 34.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,454 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,360 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola comprises approximately 0.8% of Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $241,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $24,472,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 19,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $70.94 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $71.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.89. 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 capitalization of $305.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.