Better Money Decisions LLC Sells 790 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Better Money Decisions LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,426 shares of the company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3%

KO opened at $71.39 on Thursday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $71.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.45. The firm has a market cap of $307.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $3,941,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,533,008.09. This trade represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 496,164 shares of company stock worth $35,671,587. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.81.

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.