American National Bank Buys 2,952 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

American National Bank boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,331 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,952 shares during the quarter. American National Bank’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,031,669,000 after acquiring an additional 10,722,435 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 76,982,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,764,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,974 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 60,636,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,728,653,000 after buying an additional 2,546,489 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,672,479,000 after buying an additional 57,678,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,937,315,000. 68.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on KO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on Coca-Cola from $77.00 to $74.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 50,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,984,378.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was 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 owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,984,378.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 21,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.90, for a total value of $1,283,406.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,124. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 227,364 shares of company stock worth $14,122,016. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $58.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.55. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $64.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.25.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 75.72%.

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.