Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management boosted its stake in Coca‑Cola by 11.1%, buying 498,077 shares to hold 4,984,173 shares worth about $348.44 million (≈0.12% of the company).
• Coca‑Cola raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annualized $2.12), a 2.8% yield, with an ex-dividend date of March 13 and payment on April 1.
• Insiders sold heavily — 892,925 shares totaling $70.25 million were sold in the past three months (notable sales by the EVP and CFO), leaving insiders with about 0.90% ownership.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,984,173 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 498,077 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.12% of CocaCola worth $348,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in CocaCola in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in CocaCola in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.5%

CocaCola stock opened at $75.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $323.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.72. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $65.35 and a twelve month high of $82.00.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The business 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 business's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from CocaCola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. CocaCola's payout ratio is presently 69.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 23,880 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $1,847,595.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,371,383.25. The trade was a 57.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 99,437 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.42, for a total transaction of $7,996,723.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 410,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,016,431. This trade represents a 19.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 892,925 shares of company stock valued at $70,254,796 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price target on CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on CocaCola from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $85.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $84.60.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.