D.B. Root & Company LLC Trims Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

D.B. Root & Company LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,781 shares of the company’s stock after selling 574 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on KO. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Coca-Cola from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $61.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.40. The firm has a market cap of $266.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.61.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.