New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 3,700 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 2.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 181,220 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,700 shares during the period. CocaCola accounts for 0.5% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $12,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in CocaCola by 0.7% during the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. MBA Advisors LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 1.2% during the first quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 12,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. BXM Wealth LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 4.3% during the first quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 3,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 4.2% during the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peachtree Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of CocaCola stock opened at $70.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $302.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. CocaCola Company has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.71.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.27.

CocaCola 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.