Aviance Capital Partners LLC Buys 16,864 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 249.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,634 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,864 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,549,000 after purchasing an additional 89,139 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,738,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $561,812.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,665 shares of company stock valued at $13,995,465 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. StockNews.com downgraded Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. 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 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $63.28 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.72 and a 200 day moving average of $60.78. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $272.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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.