Payden & Rygel Buys 58,000 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Payden & Rygel grew its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 289,560 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Coca-Cola comprises approximately 1.6% of Payden & Rygel’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $20,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KO. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the second quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on KO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Four investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE KO traded down $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,889,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,341,112. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.55. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $57.33 and a 12 month high of $73.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $267.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. This represents a 8.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This trade represents a 7.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,693,244 in the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently 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.