Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Acquires 584 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,925 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $3,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KO. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,472,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KO. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.8%

KO stock opened at $72.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.44 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.72.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

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.