Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,336 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,114 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $8,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,043,000 after buying an additional 4,928,441 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after buying an additional 2,964,850 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth about $188,448,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter valued at about $157,087,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KO shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 376,096 shares of company stock valued at $25,982,352 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $69.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.39. The stock has a market cap of $299.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $52.43 and a 12 month high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

About Coca-Cola

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.