FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Boosts Stock Holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,334 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 202 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,549,000 after acquiring an additional 89,139 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,255,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 139,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,213,000 after purchasing an additional 21,030 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at $102,604,000. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other 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 value of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,055,606 shares of company stock valued at $584,747,672 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.87 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $309.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.65.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.73.

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.