Aristotle Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Aristotle Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 3.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,738,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 563,997 shares during the quarter. CocaCola accounts for about 1.8% of Aristotle Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Aristotle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $911,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,885,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,464,464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,189 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 2nd quarter worth $3,846,270,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in CocaCola by 15.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,094,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,732,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,198 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in CocaCola by 2.8% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,051,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,860,395,000 after purchasing an additional 770,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in CocaCola by 5.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,721,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,772,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup lifted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of CocaCola from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $88.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 28,765 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total value of $2,284,228.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 337,824 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.10, for a total transaction of $26,046,230.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $26,410,296.60. The trade was a 49.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 892,925 shares of company stock worth $70,254,796 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $77.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.64 and a 200 day moving average of $71.39. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $65.35 and a 1 year high of $82.00.

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

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from CocaCola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is currently 67.11%.

About CocaCola

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.