Appleton Partners Inc. MA Lowers Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,043,000 after buying an additional 4,928,441 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $193,342,000. Putnam Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,051,000 after buying an additional 2,973,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 376,096 shares of company stock worth $25,982,352 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.7 %

KO stock opened at $70.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

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.