King Luther Capital Management Corp Lowers Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,945,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,341 shares during the period. Coca-Cola makes up approximately 1.2% of King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $283,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after buying an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,479,000 after acquiring an additional 177,241 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,793,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,468,000 after acquiring an additional 222,028 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,433,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,930 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. This represents a 7.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,881 shares of company stock worth $10,693,244 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $63.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.33 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $271.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.09 and a 200-day moving average of $66.52.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.