NS Partners Ltd Has $34.83 Million Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

NS Partners Ltd reduced its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 484,695 shares of the company’s stock after selling 447 shares during the period. Coca-Cola makes up 1.5% of NS Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $34,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at about $269,382,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at about $188,448,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Coca-Cola by 42.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,245,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,348 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 equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $62.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $269.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $56.96 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.25 and its 200 day moving average is $66.55.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 8.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 7.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 160,881 shares of company stock worth $10,693,244. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Coca-Cola

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.