Forbes J M & Co. LLP Sells 1,481 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Forbes J M & Co. LLP cut its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,086 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,481 shares during the period. Coca-Cola makes up about 1.6% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $14,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.55.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of KO stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.77. 28,282,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,836,777. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $561,812.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,129,621.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $561,812.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Company 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.