Verus Capital Partners LLC Purchases 252 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,059 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KO. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $561,812.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,621.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 822,284 shares of company stock valued at $567,718,040 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of KO stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.96. 1,747,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,833,653. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.36. The stock has a market cap of $275.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

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.