Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Purchases New Stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KO. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% during the first quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on KO. StockNews.com downgraded Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $69.25 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $70.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.33. 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 Coca-Cola Company has a 12-month low of $52.43 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a market cap of $298.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $14,507,516.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 376,096 shares of company stock worth $25,982,352. Corporate 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.