Girard Partners LTD. Grows Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Girard Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,245 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,174 shares during the period. Girard Partners LTD.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 15,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Arabesque Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. Arabesque Asset Management Ltd now owns 73,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,666,000 after acquiring an additional 37,412 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 50,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after acquiring an additional 6,020 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 13,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 5,950,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,522,000 after buying an additional 134,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.96% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of KO stock traded down $0.22 on Wednesday, reaching $58.60. 1,995,717 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,805,052. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.33. The company has a market capitalization of $253.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.55. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.06. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.81% and a return on equity of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 75.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.66, for a total value of $3,133,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,984,378.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 21,074 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.90, for a total transaction of $1,283,406.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,118,124. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.66, for a total transaction of $3,133,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,984,378.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 227,364 shares of company stock valued at $14,122,016. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $77.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.33.

Coca-Cola 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.