Morris Financial Concepts Inc. Lowers Position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Morris Financial Concepts Inc. reduced its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 2.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,393 shares of the company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in CocaCola by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,337,000 after buying an additional 12,222,885 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 8,419.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 119.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,458,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,871,000 after purchasing an additional 5,139,352 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $71.19 on Friday. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $306.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.27.

CocaCola 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.