Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Decreases Stake in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. reduced its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 3.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,452 shares of the company’s stock after selling 925 shares during the period. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter worth about $1,508,657,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,398,185,000 after buying an additional 16,383,870 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in CocaCola during the first quarter valued at approximately $642,183,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 8,419.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891,034 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in CocaCola by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CocaCola Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $69.15 on Tuesday. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The stock has a market cap of $297.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.97 and its 200 day moving average is $70.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 25.89%. The company had revenue of $12.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. CocaCola’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas restated an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price objective on CocaCola and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CocaCola presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 209,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.