CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.3%, now owning approximately 4.9 million shares valued at $352 million.
• Coca-Cola announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, which will be paid on October 1st, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.95%.
• Research firms have set optimistic targets for Coca-Cola stock, with prices ranging from $76.00 to $83.00, and the consensus rating currently stands at "Buy".

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,916,078 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 575,499 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.11% of CocaCola worth $352,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CocaCola in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in CocaCola by 360.0% in the 1st 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. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 449.5% in the 1st quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research raised CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.21.

CocaCola Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:KO traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $68.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,139,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,209,857. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $70.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.49. 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 twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The stock has a market cap of $293.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.45.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business 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 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 2.99%. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

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.