CocaCola Company (The) $KO Shares Purchased by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management boosted its Coca-Cola stake by 127% in Q4, buying an additional 224,391 shares and bringing its holdings to 401,133 shares valued at about $28.0 million.
• Coca-Cola reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $0.86 versus the $0.81 estimate and revenue of $12.47 billion, up 11.4% year over year.
• Wall Street remains bullish on KO: 15 analysts rate it a Buy, with an average target price of $86.80, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 127.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 401,133 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 224,391 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $28,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in CocaCola by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors now owns 3,819 shares of the company's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Apexium Financial LP grew its holdings in CocaCola by 1.2% during the third quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 12,154 shares of the company's stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in CocaCola by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,901 shares of the company's stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank grew its holdings in CocaCola by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 19,766 shares of the company's stock worth $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperity Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,957 shares of the company's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price target on CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on CocaCola from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, CocaCola has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $86.80.

CocaCola Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:KO opened at $80.60 on Wednesday. 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 Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.35 and a fifty-two week high of $82.66. The stock's 50-day moving average is $77.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.87. The stock has a market cap of $346.78 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.35.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid 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 payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 23,880 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $1,847,595.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,725 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 72,449 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $5,833,593.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 279,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,538,916.84. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 652,289 shares of company stock worth $51,739,054. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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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