CocaCola Company (The) $KO Position Boosted by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise lifted its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,057,942 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 157,321 shares during the quarter. CocaCola makes up about 1.0% of Groupe la Francaise’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $85,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KO. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in CocaCola during the second quarter valued at approximately $20,531,000. Financial Insights Inc. grew its position in CocaCola by 23.5% in the second quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 7,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in CocaCola by 7,365.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 487,509,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,619,934,000 after buying an additional 480,979,487 shares during the last quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 13.5% in the second quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 4,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 37.7% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 60,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,877,000 after buying an additional 16,440 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KO. Truist Financial set a $88.00 price objective on CocaCola in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on CocaCola from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CocaCola from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $89.00) on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.76.

CocaCola News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Coca-Cola remains attractive to income-focused investors after extending its dividend-growth streak to 64 consecutive years. Its global brands and pricing power are viewed as defenses against inflation and a weaker dollar. Safety Stocks Are Not What They Used to Be: 4 Names Built for a Weaker Dollar
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating momentum remains supportive: second-quarter net revenue increased about 7% to $13.38 billion, organic revenue rose 6%, global unit case volume grew 5%, and comparable operating margin expanded to 35.6%. Management also raised full-year guidance in July. Safety Stocks Are Not What They Used to Be: 4 Names Built for a Weaker Dollar
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to treat KO as a highly defensive consumer-staples holding, with its stable demand and dividend history compared favorably with PepsiCo. However, the stock’s roughly 26% year-to-date gain has made valuation a more important part of the investment case. PepsiCo vs. Coca-Cola: Which Stock Has the Edge?
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns are becoming more prominent near the stock’s highs. Commentary has cited a forward P/E around 25.7 times, a modest dividend yield, and limited upside relative to several analyst price targets. Investors are also watching potential volume pressure from nutrition-program restrictions. Coca-Cola Stock Opinions on Recent Highs and Valuation Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver Quantitative data shows 24 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months. While such transactions may reflect compensation or diversification, the imbalance can reinforce profit-taking concerns after the strong rally. Coca-Cola Stock Opinions on Recent Highs and Valuation Concerns

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jennifer Mann sold 23,984 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,000,505.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 157,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,128,734. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total transaction of $4,519,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,186,798.70. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 950,604 shares of company stock worth $85,076,219 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Trading Down 0.0%

CocaCola stock opened at $88.05 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.34. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $92.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.30.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.17 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 39.38% and a net margin of 28.56%.CocaCola’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.300 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 63.66%.

CocaCola 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.