Exeter Financial LLC Raises Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Exeter Financial LLC grew its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,263 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 15,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KO. Bank of America upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.7 %

KO opened at $69.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $52.11 and a one year high of $73.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total value of $2,530,217.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,954,176.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 376,096 shares of company stock valued at $25,982,352. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.