Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,954 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,389 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $4,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 374,771,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,200,276,000 after acquiring an additional 5,886,352 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in CocaCola by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 165,858,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,083,296,000 after acquiring an additional 923,278 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 15.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,094,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,592,732,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,198 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in CocaCola by 2.8% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,051,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,860,395,000 after acquiring an additional 770,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in CocaCola by 5.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,721,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,772,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,760 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $81.65 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.96. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $65.35 and a 1 year high of $82.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $351.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.35.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 40.55%. The business had revenue of $12.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total transaction of $2,559,411.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,074,096.90. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 250,688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.14, for a total transaction of $19,839,448.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 278,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,013,186.70. The trade was a 47.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 630,963 shares of company stock valued at $50,016,979. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded CocaCola from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

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.