Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 9,873 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in CocaCola by 1.9%, acquiring an additional 9,873 shares, bringing its total holdings to 530,110 shares valued at approximately $37.5 million.
• Several major institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Wellington Management Group LLP, significantly boosted their investments in CocaCola during the first quarter.
• CocaCola reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.87 for the most recent quarter, exceeding expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.0%.

Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 530,110 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,873 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $37,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,869,202,000 after buying an additional 1,114,422 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after buying an additional 16,383,870 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 6.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,889,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,212,300,000 after buying an additional 1,794,561 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 16.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 21,236,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,554,074,000 after buying an additional 2,922,619 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,508,657,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KO. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.93.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of KO opened at $67.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.37. The company has a market cap of $288.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.98. CocaCola Company has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 the consensus estimate of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.970-2.970 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is 72.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Company 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.

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