CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 1.2% – What’s Next?

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)’s stock price shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $82.00 and last traded at $81.4560. 28,398,525 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 46% from the average session volume of 19,416,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.50.

Key CocaCola News

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual call buying: traders purchased ~61,806 call options Friday (≈+17% vs. typical daily call volume), signaling short‑term bullish bets and possible demand ahead of upcoming catalysts.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised near‑term and multi‑year EPS forecasts for KO (several quarters and FY2026–FY2028), which improves the company’s forward earnings outlook and supports valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market flow/context: commentary notes a defensive rotation into blue‑chip names (MarketBeat highlighted KO’s strong February performance), suggesting macro fund flows into staples are helping the stock’s momentum.
• Neutral Sentiment: Swire Pacific restructures planned disposal of a 30% Vietnam Coca‑Cola stake via a share‑deal — a regional partner/ownership update that could affect local operations but is not an immediate companywide driver. Swire Pacific reshapes Vietnam Coca‑Cola stake sale
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling: multiple senior executives trimmed positions (CFO John Murphy sold ~99,437 shares at ~$80.42; EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 20,000 shares at ~$80.16; EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold ~36,326 shares across Feb. 25–26 at ~\$80.60–80.75). Large, clustered sales—especially by the CFO—can spook some investors even if they’re for diversification or liquidity. SEC filings: Murphy Form 4 Douglas Form 4 Perez Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose materially in February (~21.5% increase to ~41.19M shares). While shorts still represent ~1.0% of float and days‑to‑cover is modest (~1.8 days), the jump indicates more bearish positioning that could pressure shares if fundamentals disappoint.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CocaCola from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CocaCola from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.33.

CocaCola Trading Up 1.2%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.80 and a 200 day moving average of $70.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $350.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.04 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 41.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from CocaCola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is 67.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CocaCola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 21,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.75, for a total transaction of $1,722,074.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 173,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,028,536. The trade was a 10.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.16, for a total value of $1,603,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,765.12. This trade represents a 25.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 493,587 shares of company stock valued at $38,577,228. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KO. Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CocaCola by 438.8% in the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in CocaCola in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in CocaCola during the third quarter worth $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 1,081.8% in the 4th quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.