Gabelli Funds LLC Decreases Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 335,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,480 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $21,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928,441 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,342,000. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the first 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 period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.64 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.62 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.37. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $73.53.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’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 value of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,507,516.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.