First Merchants Corp Purchases 922 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

First Merchants Corp boosted its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 2.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 36,072 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $2,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in CocaCola during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in CocaCola by 360.0% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $69.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $299.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.23. CocaCola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. CocaCola’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 81.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KO. Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.27.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CocaCola 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.