Waterloo Capital L.P. Buys 6,213 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 142.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,584 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,213 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in 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 buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,866,000 after buying an additional 378,447 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in 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 buying an additional 2,964,850 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,051,000 after buying an additional 2,973,234 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,433,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,344,000 after buying an additional 1,417,930 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $71.76 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.18. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $1,253,987.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on KO. BNP Paribas began coverage on Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

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.