Bristlecone Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,843 CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• Bristlecone Advisors LLC invested $275,000 in CocaCola by purchasing 3,843 shares, reflecting a notable commitment during the 1st quarter.
• CocaCola reported $0.87 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and experienced a 2.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.9%, scheduled for payment on October 1st to investors of record as of September 15th.

Bristlecone Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,843 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at $2,513,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 121,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 848,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,851,000 after purchasing an additional 204,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Research Corp boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 10,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price target on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO remained flat at $70.75 on Tuesday. 11,060,613 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,015,391. The stock's 50-day moving average is $70.10 and its 200-day moving average is $70.01. CocaCola Company has a 12-month low of $60.62 and a 12-month high of $74.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $304.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.44.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. CocaCola's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. The trade was a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CocaCola 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.