BNP Paribas Sells 8,881 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

BNP Paribas lowered its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 524,844 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,881 shares during the period. Coca-Cola accounts for about 1.6% of BNP Paribas' investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. BNP Paribas' holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $37,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at $269,382,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at $188,448,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company's stock worth $178,104,000 after buying an additional 2,443,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,765,669 shares of the company's stock worth $486,181,000 after buying an additional 1,921,241 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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 note on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of KO opened at $64.58 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $278.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.49 and a 200 day moving average of $66.59. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.47 and a 1-year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Coca-Cola's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is 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.

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