Gateway Advisory LLC Buys 2,730 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 49.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,303 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares during the period. Gateway Advisory LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after buying an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after acquiring an additional 378,447 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,234 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,433,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,930 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.30 and a 200-day moving average of $64.46. The company has a market cap of $308.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.