LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Decreases Stock Position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC trimmed its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 915 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $2,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. now owns 4,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KO. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

CocaCola Price Performance

CocaCola stock opened at $69.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $300.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.16. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last posted 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. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. 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 business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CocaCola Company 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.