First National Trust Co Sells 2,578 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First National Trust Co lowered its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,634 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,578 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 11,138.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933,527 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,501,789,000 after buying an additional 2,464,618 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,514,234,000 after buying an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,845,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,446,822,000 after buying an additional 1,963,963 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after buying an additional 1,950,146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.3 %

KO traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.17. The stock had a trading volume of 11,628,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,782,690. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $64.25. The company has a market capitalization of $268.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.12.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 323,107 shares of company stock valued at $19,657,742 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KO. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.27.

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.