If You Invested $1,000 In Coca-Cola Stock When Warren Buffett Did, Here's How Much You'd Have Now - Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) (2024)

For decades, beverage giant Coca-Cola Inc KO has been a staple holding inthe portfolioof Warren Buffett'sBerkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B). Here’s a look back at the firm'svery first purchase and how investors wouldhave done had they invested in Coca-Cola'sstockalongside Buffett from the very start.

What Happened:Berkshire Hathaway's portfolioincludes holdings in top public companies like Coca-Cola, Apple Inc, American Express and more. Italso owns many well-known companies, including Dairy Queen, Duracell, GEICO and Fruit of the Loom.

In 1988, Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway made a splash by buying shares of Coca-Cola. By the end of the year, Berkshire Hathawayhad acquired 14,172,500 shares at an average price point of $41.81.

In anannual letter that year, Buffett, who is said to drink five cans of co*ke or Cherry co*ke a day,addressed the purchase of Coca-Cola shares.

“In 1988, we made major purchases of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Pfd and Coca Cola. We expect to hold these securities for a long time,” Buffett said. “In fact, when we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”

Berkshire Hathaway would continue to add to its Coca-Cola position over the following yearsand see its share count blossom from several stock splits.

The firm now owns 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, which makes up around 8.5% of its portfolio. Berkshire Hathaway owns over 9% of Coca-Cola’s shares.

Related Link: If You Invested $1,000 In Berkshire Hathaway When Warren Buffett Did, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Investing $1,000 in Coca-Cola: The big bet by Buffettin 1988 marked one of the largest bets on a public company by the legendary investor.

If an investorhad invested at the same price and timeBerkshire Hathawayhad purchased itsshares, that investorwould have been pleasantly rewarded today.

A $1,000 investment at the timecould have purchased 23.92 shares of Coca-Cola. Shares of Coca-Cola split 2-for-1 in 1990, 1992, 1996 and 2012. The stock splits would have turned the $1,000 investment into 382.72 shares.

Today, the $1,000 investment would be worth $23,326.78, based on a price of $60.95at the time of writing, and not including dividends.

The investment would be up a staggering 2,232.7% over the last 33 years, representing an average annual return of 67.7%.

Not every investment made by Buffett will be a winner, but the legendary investor has proved that many of Berkshire Hathaway's top holdings have seen a nice return on investment when held for many years.

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