N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,972 shares of the company’s stock after selling 703 shares during the quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KO. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at $28,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on KO. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.73.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $71.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.33 and a 200 day moving average of $63.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,074,910 shares of company stock worth $585,972,318 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.