CocaCola Company (The) $KO Shares Acquired by Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,758 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CocaCola by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,869,202,000 after buying an additional 1,114,422 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in CocaCola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,508,657,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its position in CocaCola by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 18,408,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,148,609,000 after buying an additional 1,155,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,133,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,155,499,000 after purchasing an additional 866,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $69.92 on Monday. 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 Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.20. The company has a market cap of $300.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.44.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.21.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at $14,477,348.30. The trade was a 15.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.