Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 10,967 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management increased its CocaCola shares by 28.1%, acquiring an additional 10,967 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 50,053 shares worth approximately $3.59 million.
• In a recent earnings report, CocaCola exceeded analysts' estimates with an EPS of $0.87, a 2.5% year-over-year revenue increase amounting to $12.50 billion.
• CocaCola plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.51 on October 1st, representing an annualized yield of 3.0%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 72.34%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 28.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,053 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,967 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in CocaCola were worth $3,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CocaCola by 360.0% in the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of CocaCola by 148.4% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 477 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CocaCola by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $67.90 on Friday. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.39 and a 200-day moving average of $69.54. 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 $292.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.45.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 187,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.21.

About CocaCola

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.

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