Mezzasalma Advisors LLC Sells 1,349 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Mezzasalma Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 20.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,251 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,349 shares during the quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter worth $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.83.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.33. The company had a trading volume of 9,154,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,000,689. The stock has a market cap of $272.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.86. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $64.36.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total transaction of $1,224,645.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,168,055.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465. 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.