Montag & Caldwell LLC Sells 16,057 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Montag & Caldwell LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,503 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,057 shares during the period. Coca-Cola comprises about 1.6% of Montag & Caldwell LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $8,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,043,000 after buying an additional 4,928,441 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $193,342,000. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,051,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $71.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $51.55 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $307.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,507,516.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.