Maple Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Maple Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,946 shares of the company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% in the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total value of $1,274,333.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,398,603.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total value of $1,274,333.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,398,603.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $69.30 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $54.04 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $298.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.73 and a 200-day moving average of $65.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Coca-Cola 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.