EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 22,515 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 22.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,515 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $8,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Apella Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% in the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. CCG Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.14.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $62.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $269.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.21 and its 200 day moving average is $66.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.47 and a 1-year high of $73.53.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.