Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Lowers Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 110,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,398 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $7,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $18,383,000. Balentine LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,048,000 after buying an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after buying an additional 59,503 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,122,000 after buying an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,895,000 after buying an additional 21,005 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $64.43 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $277.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.47 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.36.

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.