CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $85.69 and last traded at $84.6490, with a volume of 363834 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $84.92.

More CocaCola News

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are rotating into defensive names ahead of Coca-Cola’s July 28 earnings report, helping support the shares as the stock has been trading near all-time highs. What's Going on With Coca-Cola Stock Friday?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary has highlighted Coca-Cola’s strength as a durable dividend stock, with a newly घोषित quarterly dividend reinforcing its income appeal for long-term holders.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and market coverage continue to frame KO as a high-quality consumer staple with strong cash generation, but much of that optimism appears already reflected in the stock’s elevated valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Coca-Cola disclosed that its fairlife subsidiary suffered a ransomware attack that forced a halt to all U.S. production, raising concerns about near-term disruption, recovery costs, and broader cyber risk. Coca-Cola says fairlife halts US production after cyber attack
• Negative Sentiment: The fairlife issue may matter financially because the unit is a meaningful business for Coca-Cola, so investors are watching for any impact on sales, margins, and management’s comments when earnings are reported later this month.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings raised CocaCola from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $88.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Friday, June 26th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.81.

CocaCola Trading Down 1.1%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $361.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. CocaCola’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Activity

In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,074,096.90. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Jennifer K. Mann sold 23,984 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,000,505.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 157,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,128,734. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CocaCola

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everpar Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.9% during the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in CocaCola by 0.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 40,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 3,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Wills Financial Group LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wills Financial Group LLC now owns 10,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 0.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 26,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,041,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.