Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,309 shares of the company’s stock after selling 667 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the third quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KO. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.36.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $64.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $277.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.58. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.47 and a 1 year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.