Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Buys 7,594 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,195 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,594 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $5,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,043,000 after buying an additional 4,928,441 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $193,342,000. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KO shares. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,507,516.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,507,516.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total transaction of $3,981,938.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,074,330.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO opened at $71.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, 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. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.95.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

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.