Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 2,933 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,507 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola comprises about 0.6% of Empirical Finance LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $9,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $188,448,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth approximately $157,087,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443,612 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,245,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,348 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $62.43 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $56.70 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.36.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. This trade represents a 35.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 303,748 shares of company stock worth $20,677,431. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola 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.