Ledyard National Bank Purchases 2,076 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Ledyard National Bank boosted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,131 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at $102,604,000. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,421,000. Duality Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 191.1% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 111,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 73,434 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,935,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,578,000 after buying an additional 20,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 226,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,013,000 after acquiring an additional 23,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.45 on Tuesday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $54.04 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.87.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction 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 approximately $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total value of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,954,176.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.