EP Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,187 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $6,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,043,000 after buying an additional 4,928,441 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $193,342,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,051,000 after buying an additional 2,973,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of KO opened at $71.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $309.57 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $73.53.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

About Coca-Cola

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.