Baskin Financial Services Inc. Invests $3.81 Million in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Baskin Financial Services opened a new position in Coca‑Cola in Q4, buying 54,545 shares valued at approximately $3.81 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 892,925 shares worth about $70.25 million over the last 90 days, including sales by EVP Nancy Quan and Bruno Pietracci; insiders now own roughly 0.90% of the stock.
• Analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with an $85 average target (Jefferies raised its target to $90), and Coca‑Cola recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.53, a 2.8% yield.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 54,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,813,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 target price on CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on CocaCola from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.8%

KO opened at $75.77 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $77.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.93. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $82.00. The firm has a market cap of $326.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. CocaCola had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 27.34%.The company had revenue of $11.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase 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%.

About CocaCola

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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