Blue Trust Inc. Sells 32,566 Shares of CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its Coca-Cola stake by 3.5% in Q1, selling 32,566 shares and leaving it with 906,321 shares valued at about $68.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with 15 analysts rating KO a Buy and the stock carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $86.69.
• Coca-Cola reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $0.86 per share on revenue of $12.47 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share payable July 1.

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 906,321 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,566 shares during the quarter. CocaCola comprises approximately 0.8% of Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $68,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CocaCola by 438.8% during the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in CocaCola in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in CocaCola by 1,081.8% during the 4th quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KO shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CocaCola from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on CocaCola from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.69.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $80.62 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $84.04. The stock has a market cap of $346.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.35.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,074,096.90. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 122,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,842,608.29. The trade was a 78.03% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock valued at $71,832,315. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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