AIA Group Ltd Sells 30,371 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 381,395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,371 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $29,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in CocaCola by 0.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 40,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC grew its stake in CocaCola by 0.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 26,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,041,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors grew its position in CocaCola by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors now owns 3,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of CocaCola by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 7,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its position in CocaCola by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 3,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Heavy call-option activity suggests traders are positioning for a rebound or expecting volatility around the stock. Traders bought 75,333 call options, well above the recent average. Quiver Quant article on Coca-Cola options activity and cyberattack
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage noted KO benefiting from its defensive profile as investors look for more stable dividend names ahead of earnings, which may be helping support interest in the stock despite the cybersecurity issue. Benzinga article on Coca-Cola stock movement
• Neutral Sentiment: Coca-Cola also announced a quarterly dividend, reinforcing its appeal as a high-quality income stock, though this is unlikely to be the main driver of today’s trading.
• Negative Sentiment: The fairlife cyberattack is the key negative catalyst, since it hit a growth brand and temporarily suspended U.S. production, raising fears of lost revenue and added recovery costs. Reuters article on fairlife production halt

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KO. TD Cowen lifted their target price on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial set a $88.00 price objective on CocaCola in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CocaCola news, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.13, for a total value of $34,960,398.48. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 122,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,842,608.29. This trade represents a 78.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, EVP Jennifer K. Mann sold 23,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total transaction of $2,000,505.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 157,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,128,734. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock valued at $71,832,315 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $81.50 on Friday. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $85.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $350.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.34.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The company had revenue of $12.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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, sell-side analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share 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 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 is Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

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.