First Foundation Advisors Trims Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Foundation Advisors decreased its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 661 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $2,808,056,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,564,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,390,448,000 after buying an additional 2,893,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after buying an additional 814,779 shares during the period. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after buying an additional 378,447 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,523,000 after buying an additional 1,949,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on KO. 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 note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. 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 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $1,253,987.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 841,588 shares of company stock worth $568,972,027. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $65.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,775,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,171,430. The stock has a market cap of $281.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $65.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Coca-Cola 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.