Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,694 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,509 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $6,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company's stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.36.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 223,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This represents a 7.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the sale, 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 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 303,748 shares of company stock valued at $20,677,431 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of KO traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.26. The company had a trading volume of 6,173,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,343,646. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $68.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $56.96 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. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current 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 $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.