First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Has $12.39 Million Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 172,421 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,787 shares during the period. Coca-Cola makes up about 2.5% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $12,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KO. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola 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 $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 203,748 shares of company stock valued at $14,274,431. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $63.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.56 and a 200-day moving average of $66.44. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $56.06 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

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.