The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Position Cut by Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lowered its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,356 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,551 shares during the period. Coca-Cola accounts for 0.7% of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,479,000 after acquiring an additional 177,241 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,433,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $63.87 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.43. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $56.06 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 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.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $30,987,070.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,150,619.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 203,748 shares of company stock worth $14,274,431 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.