Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Raises Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. lifted its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,984 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in CocaCola during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,508,657,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after purchasing an additional 16,383,870 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in CocaCola during the first quarter valued at approximately $642,183,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 47.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 11,844,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $848,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in CocaCola by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 21,236,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922,619 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.31.

CocaCola Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of KO stock opened at $69.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.43. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%.The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.55%.

About CocaCola

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.