The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Purchased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,125 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KO. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Elk River Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 8,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.74. 1,919,357 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,783,322. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.25. The company has a market capitalization of $270.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.30.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.27.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 380,405 shares of company stock worth $23,209,645 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Coca-Cola

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.