CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $91.23 and last traded at $90.9430, with a volume of 2704421 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners set a $95.00 price target on CocaCola in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Argus boosted their target price on CocaCola from $91.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CocaCola from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on CocaCola from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CocaCola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.76.

CocaCola Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $393.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $83.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.19.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. CocaCola had a return on equity of 39.38% and a net margin of 28.56%.The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. CocaCola’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.300 EPS. Research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 3.29 EPS 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 paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 152,483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.31, for a total transaction of $13,313,290.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 279,917 shares in the company, valued at $24,439,553.27. The trade was a 35.26% 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, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 75,727 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.65, for a total transaction of $6,788,925.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 35,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,172,982.45. The trade was a 68.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 1,433,535 shares of company stock valued at $121,922,698 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CocaCola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,865,807,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 867.2% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,432,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,954,000 after purchasing an additional 12,939,959 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1,206.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 10,641,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,913,000 after purchasing an additional 9,826,768 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,182,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,809,146,000 after purchasing an additional 9,078,447 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 98.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,573,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,015,000 after purchasing an additional 6,246,627 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.