AIA Group Ltd Reduces Stake in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd reduced its Coca-Cola stake by 7.4% in the first quarter, selling 30,371 shares and ending the period with 381,395 shares worth about $29.0 million.
• Insider selling has been significant, with Chairman James Quincey and EVP Jennifer K. Mann both reporting large share sales; insiders have sold about 899,905 shares worth $71.8 million over the past 90 days.
• Coca-Cola continues to show solid fundamentals, with quarterly earnings and revenue topping expectations and the company maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, yielding about 2.6% annually.

AIA Group Ltd lessened its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd acquired a new position in CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at $552,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 38.1% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 3,852,525 shares of the company's stock worth $269,330,000 after buying an additional 31,694 shares in the last quarter. Greenberg Financial Group purchased a new position in CocaCola in the fourth quarter valued at about $507,000. Finally, Retirement Guys Formula LLC boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 49,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,429,000 after buying an additional 14,130 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CocaCola News Roundup

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

Insider Activity

In other CocaCola news, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 122,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,842,608.29. This represents a 78.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $7,946,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 181,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,412,772.64. This represents a 35.54% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $81.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $350.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.34. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $65.35 and a twelve month high of $85.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $81.25 and a 200-day moving average of $77.63.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 40.55%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. Analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued 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 2.6%. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial set a $88.00 price objective on CocaCola in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.81.

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.

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