Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 14,553 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,775,419 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,553 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $124,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 9.7% during the first quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 4.9% in the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 97,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,555 shares during the period. Quilter Plc boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 2.8% in the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,508,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,011,000 after purchasing an additional 41,526 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 1.4% in the first quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 42,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,051,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter worth approximately $116,688,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Cfra Research upgraded shares of CocaCola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.27.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $70.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $303.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10. CocaCola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. CocaCola’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 81.60%.

About CocaCola

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.