Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Sells 529 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC decreased its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,378 shares of the company’s stock after selling 529 shares during the quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth about $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,255,000 after buying an additional 43,680 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 385.3% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 15,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 11.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,115,000 after purchasing an additional 301,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $77.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.33.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $57.94 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $250.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.55. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $54.01 and a 1 year high of $64.99.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.06. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.06% and a net margin of 23.81%. The business had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, SVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 21,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.90, for a total value of $1,283,406.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,124. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 21,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.90, for a total transaction of $1,283,406.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,124. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.66, for a total transaction of $3,133,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,984,378.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 227,364 shares of company stock valued at $14,122,016. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.