Natixis Trims Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Natixis lessened its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 24.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 394,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 128,315 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in CocaCola were worth $27,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 367,441,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,996,519,000 after purchasing an additional 6,241,163 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CocaCola in the second quarter valued at about $3,846,270,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in CocaCola by 52.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after buying an additional 16,383,870 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 6.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,889,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,212,300,000 after buying an additional 1,794,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 27,281,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,930,170,000 after buying an additional 285,794 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of CocaCola from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.43.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.7%

KO stock opened at $69.94 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $300.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.53. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Max R. Levchin acquired 7,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $69.87 per share, with a total value of $503,483.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 14,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,835.29. This represents a 102.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Henrique Braun sold 40,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $2,864,862.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,441,707.53. This represents a 39.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 225,252 shares of company stock worth $15,953,007 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola 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.