Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Cuts Stock Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. significantly reduced its holdings in CocaCola Company by 56.5%, now owning 122,730 shares after selling 159,166 shares in the first quarter.
• As of the latest analysis, CocaCola has a consensus rating of "Buy" among analysts with an average price target of $77.21.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, providing an annualized yield of 3.0% to shareholders.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. reduced its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 56.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,730 shares of the company's stock after selling 159,166 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $8,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock worth $25,869,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,422 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after purchasing an additional 16,383,870 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 21,236,315 shares of the company's stock worth $1,554,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922,619 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at $1,508,657,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in CocaCola by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,133,745 shares of the company's stock worth $1,155,499,000 after acquiring an additional 866,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.95. The stock had a trading volume of 13,845,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,900,412. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50-day moving average price is $69.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. CocaCola had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The firm had revenue of $12.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. CocaCola's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.970-2.970 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is 72.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.