Kozak & Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Kozak & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 754 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% in 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $61.09. 8,934,833 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,570,798. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a market cap of $263.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on KO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.50.

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.