Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Boosts Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 60.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,361 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,968 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth $4,191,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 457.7% in the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 1,115,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,240,000 after purchasing an additional 915,400 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 14,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 9,011,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,341,000 after purchasing an additional 283,611 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 384,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,502,000 after buying an additional 56,579 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.21.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $65.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,187,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,867,706. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $66.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $63.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.41. The company has a market capitalization of $283.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $561,812.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,621.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $561,812.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,621.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 841,588 shares of company stock worth $568,972,027 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola 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.