CocaCola Company (The) $KO Shares Sold by Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Edgemoor Investment Advisors cut its Coca-Cola stake by 87.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 41,379 shares and leaving it with 5,932 shares valued at about $415,000.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CEO James Quincey and CFO John Murphy both reduced their holdings, and insiders sold 630,963 shares worth roughly $50.0 million over the last 90 days.
• Coca-Cola reported solid results and raised optimism, posting Q1 EPS of $0.86 on revenue of $12.47 billion, while analysts remain largely bullish with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average target price of $86.80.

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 87.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,932 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,379 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 374,771,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,200,276,000 after buying an additional 5,886,352 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in CocaCola by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 165,858,003 shares of the company's stock worth $11,083,296,000 after purchasing an additional 923,278 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CocaCola by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 89,984,203 shares of the company's stock worth $6,273,037,000 after purchasing an additional 433,547 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CocaCola in the 4th quarter worth about $3,865,807,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,094,276 shares of the company's stock worth $2,592,732,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 250,688 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.14, for a total transaction of $19,839,448.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 278,155 shares in the company, valued at $22,013,186.70. The trade was a 47.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 72,449 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $5,833,593.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 279,917 shares in the company, valued at $22,538,916.84. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 630,963 shares of company stock valued at $50,016,979. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Stock Performance

KO opened at $78.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $339.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.75 and a 200-day moving average of $75.06. CocaCola Company has a 52-week low of $65.35 and a 52-week high of $82.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors 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 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on KO. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $86.80.

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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