CocaCola Company (The) $KO Holdings Trimmed by Verity Asset Management Inc.

Verity Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,313 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,869,202,000 after buying an additional 1,114,422 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 52.7% during 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 6.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,889,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,212,300,000 after buying an additional 1,794,561 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 21,236,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,922,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter worth $1,508,657,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Stock Performance

KO stock opened at $68.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $296.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.65. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 43.62%. Research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on CocaCola from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.31.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In related news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 13,548 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.93, for a total transaction of $947,411.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,638,109.25. This trade represents a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Max R. Levchin purchased 7,206 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $69.87 per share, with a total value of $503,483.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 14,267 shares in the company, valued at $996,835.29. The trade was a 102.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola 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.