CocaCola Company (The) $KO Shares Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,222 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $9,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter worth about $1,508,657,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after purchasing an additional 16,383,870 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new position in CocaCola in the 1st quarter worth $642,183,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 367,441,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,996,519,000 after acquiring an additional 6,241,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 47.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 11,844,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810,752 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CocaCola from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on CocaCola from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on CocaCola from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.43.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 13,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.93, for a total value of $947,411.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,109.25. The trade was a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Manuel Arroyo sold 139,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.80, for a total transaction of $9,889,981.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,111,143.60. This trade represents a 70.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 193,627 shares of company stock valued at $13,702,256 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.8%

CocaCola stock opened at $71.26 on Wednesday. CocaCola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.46.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion for the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s payout ratio is presently 67.55%.

CocaCola 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.