Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 99,047 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 884,382 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99,047 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $63,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at approximately $188,448,000. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at approximately $157,087,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $66.92 on Friday. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $55.10 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $288.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.06.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total value of $3,981,938.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,074,330.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 319,005 shares of company stock valued at $22,198,147. Corporate 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.