Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 81,090 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,107 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:KO opened at $70.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.87. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $305.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 over the last ninety days. 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.