Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 245,679 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Coca-Cola accounts for 4.1% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $17,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KO. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth about $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% during the first quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.33.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of KO traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.32. 1,989,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,182,399. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $52.43 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.51 and a 200-day moving average of $65.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 78.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total transaction of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,954,176.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 376,096 shares of company stock worth $25,982,352 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.