CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.7647.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Friday. HSBC lowered shares of CocaCola from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CocaCola from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 75,727 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.65, for a total transaction of $6,788,925.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 35,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,172,982.45. This represents a 68.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 152,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.31, for a total value of $13,313,290.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 279,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,439,553.27. The trade was a 35.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 1,655,202 shares of company stock worth $139,400,742 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in CocaCola during the 4th quarter valued at about $552,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CocaCola by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 111,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,802,000 after purchasing an additional 30,786 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 3,852,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,330,000 after purchasing an additional 31,694 shares during the last quarter. Greenberg Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $507,000. Finally, Retirement Guys Formula LLC grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 49,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 14,130 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Improved Middle East geopolitical tensions helped lift broader markets, providing a supportive backdrop for large-cap defensive stocks such as Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola in Focus as Eased Middle East Tension Lifts Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Coca-Cola remains a favored consumer-staples and dividend-growth name as weak consumer confidence and market volatility encourage investors to seek stable cash flow. Recent coverage also highlighted its strong second-quarter results and long dividend-growth record. Consumer Staples Stocks to Play Safe Amid Sinking Consumer Confidence
• Positive Sentiment: The latest quarter beat expectations, with earnings of $0.97 per share versus a $0.93 consensus and revenue of $13.37 billion versus $13.17 billion. Revenue rose 6.2% year over year, while full-year 2026 EPS guidance remains $3.27-$3.30. Coca-Cola Earnings and Guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: Coca-Cola appointed Luca Santandrea as general director for Poland and the Baltic operations. The change could support regional execution, although investors are also questioning whether KO is fully valued after its substantial gains this year. Coca-Cola Valuation Following Leadership Change
• Negative Sentiment: Expansion in China is creating near-term margin pressure. Investors may view the investment as strategically positive, but the added costs could weigh on profitability until growth scales. Coca-Cola Margin Hit From China Expansion
• Negative Sentiment: CFO John Murphy sold 152,483 shares worth approximately $13.3 million, reducing his direct holdings by about 35%. The filing attributed the sale to tax withholding on vested equity awards, which limits its bearish significance but may still weigh on sentiment. Coca-Cola CFO SEC Form 4 Filing

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $86.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $372.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.99. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $65.35 and a fifty-two week high of $90.92.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm 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%.The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CocaCola will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.66%.

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.