Advisors Capital Management LLC Acquires 50,943 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its Coca‑Cola stake by 6.7%, buying 50,943 shares to hold 808,581 shares valued at about $56.53 million at quarter-end.
• Insiders sold heavily — EVP Nancy Quan and Bruno Pietracci sold 23,556 and 28,765 shares respectively, and insiders disposed of 892,925 shares worth $70.25 million over the past 90 days.
• Dividend and analyst outlook — Coca‑Cola raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annualized $2.12, ~2.8% yield), and analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" with a $85 target while several firms lifted targets into the $87–$90 range.

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 808,581 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,943 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $56,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KO. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in CocaCola by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 49,700 shares of the company's stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 22,444 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in CocaCola by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,051,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,086,000 after buying an additional 57,407 shares in the last quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 42.3% during the third quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 185,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,269,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 10,408,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $690,311,000 after buying an additional 198,886 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $1,872,702.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,754,735. This represents a 9.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 28,765 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total transaction of $2,284,228.65. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 892,925 shares of company stock worth $70,254,796. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.5%

KO opened at $76.66 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.23 and a 200 day moving average of $73.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. CocaCola Company has a 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $82.00. The firm has a market cap of $329.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.36.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.04 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 27.34%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This is a boost from CocaCola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial set a $85.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on CocaCola from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

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.

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