The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Stock Position Raised by Independence Bank of Kentucky

Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,022 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,462 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 65.0% during the first quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 546,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,175,078. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.33. The firm has a market cap of $298.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $52.43 and a one year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.54%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 376,096 shares of company stock worth $25,982,352 over the last three months. 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.