Abacus Planning Group Inc. Sells 5,227 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. decreased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,227 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after buying an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,479,000 after purchasing an additional 177,241 shares during the period. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after purchasing an additional 378,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964,850 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

KO opened at $71.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

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.