The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Waverly Advisors LLC

Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 413,684 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 56,037 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $25,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $71.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $70.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $309.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders 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 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Coca-Cola 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.