Waverton Investment Management Ltd Sells 44,314 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lowered its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 39.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,773 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,314 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $4,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 60.2% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 16,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 6,141 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in CocaCola by 1.6% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 176,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 106,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,627,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, Director Max R. Levchin purchased 7,206 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.87 per share, with a total value of $503,483.22. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 13,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.93, for a total transaction of $947,411.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,109.25. This represents a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on KO shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.31.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $68.53 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.71 and a 200-day moving average of $69.58. 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 $294.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 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 posted 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.55%.

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.