Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,842,883 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,681 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $117,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after buying an additional 7,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 223,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,186,000 after acquiring an additional 15,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,055,606 shares of company stock worth $584,747,672 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.87 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.73.

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.