Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 31.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,556 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KO. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,503,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $2,808,056,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,564,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,390,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,893,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $894,028,000 after acquiring an additional 814,779 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,866,000 after acquiring an additional 378,447 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.4 %

KO stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $63.78. 3,208,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,047,598. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.71. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total transaction of $1,224,645.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 223,665 shares of company stock valued at $13,995,465. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

Coca-Cola 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.