Accredited Investors Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,893 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,987 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on KO shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays cut 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value 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 approximately $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total value of $2,804,826.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. The trade was a 35.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 303,748 shares of company stock valued at $20,677,431 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $61.74 on Friday. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $56.70 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $265.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.51.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 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.