United Services Automobile Association Decreases Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

United Services Automobile Association reduced its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 346,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122,705 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $24,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 8,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.3% in the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 738,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,027,000 after acquiring an additional 54,191 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 313,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,133,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verum Partners LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 62,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,955,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $62.51 on Friday. 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 cap of $269.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1 year low of $57.47 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.56.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. 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 firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.14.

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.