Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $150.58 Million Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Coca-Cola stake by 60.3% in the first quarter, selling more than 3 million shares and leaving it with about 1.98 million shares valued at $150.6 million.
• Coca-Cola posted solid quarterly results, with earnings of $0.86 per share and revenue of $12.47 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 11.4% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, or $2.12 annually, for a yield of about 2.6%, while Wall Street remains constructive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $86.69.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 60.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,980,046 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,004,127 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $150,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in CocaCola in the first quarter valued at about $210,000. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 450.5% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 39,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 32,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CocaCola by 548.2% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $80.62 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.16. The firm has a market cap of $346.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.35. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $65.35 and a 1 year high of $84.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total transaction of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $18,074,096.90. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.13, for a total value of $34,960,398.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 122,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,842,608.29. This represents a 78.03% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock valued at $71,832,315. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KO. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CocaCola from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.69.

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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