New England Research & Management Inc. Sells 611 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

New England Research & Management Inc. trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 611 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola makes up 1.4% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KO. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,549,000 after acquiring an additional 89,139 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 61,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.83.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $63.65 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $274.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.77.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders 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 3.05%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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.