RiverFront Investment Group LLC Trims Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,734 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,252 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,342,000. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,051,000 after buying an additional 2,973,234 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in 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 buying an additional 2,964,850 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.73 on Wednesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $309.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.94.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total transaction of $3,981,938.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,074,330.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KO. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

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.