Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 266 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,934 shares of the company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 70,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,925,000 after acquiring an additional 23,270 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 23,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,323,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,113,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,321,000 after acquiring an additional 54,480 shares during the period. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 110.1% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 133,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,000 after purchasing an additional 69,802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:KO opened at $62.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.30. The company has a market cap of $270.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 380,405 shares of company stock valued at $23,209,645. 0.97% of the stock is 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.