Essex Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stake in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,554 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $6,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. New Republic Capital LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 1.6% during the first quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 2.1% during the first quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in CocaCola by 0.7% during the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 1.2% during the first quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 12,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, BXM Wealth LLC raised its stake in CocaCola by 4.3% during the first quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 3,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CocaCola Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of KO stock opened at $66.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.13. CocaCola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.55 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.970-2.970 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 72.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. The trade was a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on KO. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price target on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.93.

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.