The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Shares Acquired by Independence Bank of Kentucky

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,022 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,462 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KO. Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.4% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the third quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 15,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.29. The company had a trading volume of 546,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,175,078. The stock has a market cap of $298.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $52.43 and a 12 month high of $73.53. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.33.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.54%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction 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 approximately $5,074,330.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 376,096 shares of company stock worth $25,982,352 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.