N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC cut its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,960 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,138.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933,527 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,789,000 after buying an additional 2,464,618 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,234,000 after buying an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,822,000 after buying an additional 1,963,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO traded up $0.19 on Monday, hitting $62.36. 9,309,869 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,967,127. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $64.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $268.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.25.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 323,107 shares of company stock valued at $19,657,742 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.27.

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.