Eastern Bank Purchases 156,929 Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Eastern Bank boosted its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 1,380.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 168,294 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 156,929 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $12,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KO. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% during the first quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.60. 7,777,978 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,133,355. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $54.04 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.73 and its 200-day moving average is $65.87.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Coca-Cola 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.