Hedges Asset Management LLC Sells 2,200 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Hedges Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 42.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Hedges Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Merchants Corp increased its holdings in CocaCola by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 36,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CocaCola by 8.0% during the first quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in CocaCola by 3.1% during the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 59,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,285,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 21,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balefire LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 197.3% during the 1st quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $69.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $299.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.89. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

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 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 dividend yield of 2.93%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola 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 shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.27.

About CocaCola

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.