Warren Buffett is so deeply tied with Coca-Cola that one of his most personal anecdotes – that he at one time drank five cans of Cherry Coke each day – is forever linked with the company. Buffett added Coca-Cola stock to Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio after the stock market crash of 1987, buying up $1 billion or so in stock at a time when prices were generally low. Since then, Buffett has maintained and bolstered his position. Now, Berkshire holds nearly 10% of all outstanding shares of the company, making it one of his largest holdings and a consistent provider of strong dividends. If you had bought into Coca-Cola at the same time Buffett did, how much would your investment have gained at this point?

From $2.45 in January 1988 to $42.70 in M♓arch 2018

Warren Buffett saw Coca-Cola (KO) as a dominant company across the beverage industry even back in the late 1980s. Following the crash of 1987, Buffett found many different stocks to have more attractive 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:valuations, considering that many owners were selling꧋ off shares without attention to fundamentals. Besides that, Buffett saw KO as having an iconic name and brand as well as a far-reaching global exposure. 🍨These were some of the reasons he invested about $1 billion in the company in early 1988. This purchase accounted for about 6.2% of all outstanding shares and immediately catapulted KO stock to the top of Buffett's holdings. On January 15, 1988, KO stock sold for $2.45 per share.

As of March 26, 2018, KO stock is worth about 17.4 times what it was when Buffett made his famous purchase in 1988, with shares selling for $42.70 each, accounting for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:dividends. The stock has produced annualized gains of more than 11% since Buffett first invested. If you had followed Berk꧂shire Hathaway's KO purchase in 1988, you would have seen your investment grow each year since then. , your investment of $1000 alongside Buffett would have bought you approximately 408 shares in 1988. It would now be worth more than $17,421, for a percentage change of just over 1,642%.

Buffett Looks to Hold on to KO Indefinitely

Coca-Cola has stood out among the other positions in Berkshire's portfolio not only because of the amount of money Buffett has invested, but also for its longevity. Alongside 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Wells Fargo (WFC), Coca-Cola is one of the two longest-standing major positions in Buffett's portfolio. It is a cornerstone of Buffett's holdings and a key component of his reputation as a long-term investor who prefers to find excellent companies and hold them for a very long time. To this day, Buffett remains a loyal personal customer of Coca-Cola, and the company's brand name is as strong as it has ever been. Coca-Cola sports about 20 different brands, bringing in a total of over $1 billion in sales per year a piece. Coupled with a huge and extremely efficient network of distribution, a superb 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:balance sheet, comfortable cash flow, and s🍨trong management,🌸 Coca-Cola seems to be as close to a surefire investment as one can find.