Appleton Partners Inc. MA Has $1.09 Million Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,878 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,634 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 223,665 shares of company stock valued at $13,995,465 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $62.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $269.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.98 and its 200-day moving average is $60.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $64.36.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.55.

Coca-Cola Company 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.