Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 88,823 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 83.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88,823 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,618 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,664 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,446,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,963 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949,500 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KO. Barclays boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.22.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $61.76 on Wednesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $64.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $266.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 323,107 shares of company stock worth $19,657,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.