Griffith & Werner Inc. Cuts Stake in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Griffith & Werner Inc. cut its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 16.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,349 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,298 shares during the period. CocaCola accounts for approximately 3.1% of Griffith & Werner Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Griffith & Werner Inc.'s holdings in CocaCola were worth $6,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of CocaCola by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in CocaCola by 450.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 39,583 shares of the company's stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 32,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in CocaCola by 548.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlight Coca-Cola as a defensive, market-weary investor favorite, with its steady business model and consistent earnings beats supporting the stock’s premium valuation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to Coca-Cola’s strong year-to-date performance and relative outperformance versus many consumer staples peers, reinforcing momentum in the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Pepsi’s upcoming earnings are being framed as a comparison point for the beverage sector, but this is more of a read-through for competitor performance than a direct Coca-Cola catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting a pullback in KO shares says the stock’s defensive appeal remains in focus, suggesting recent weakness may be seen as a buying opportunity rather than a fundamental problem. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart’s price cuts on Coca-Cola packs raise questions about pricing power and valuation, but the article notes the stock has still shown strong momentum recently, making this a watch item ahead of earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A downgrade on Coca-Cola reflects some concern that the stock may have run too far, and another report says KO has underperformed competitors on a recent trading day, which may weigh on sentiment. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays upped their target price on CocaCola from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $88.00 target price on CocaCola in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.88.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of KO opened at $83.47 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $359.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.34. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $85.68. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $80.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.04. 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 (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. CocaCola's quarterly 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, sell-side analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. CocaCola's payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $18,074,096.90. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Jennifer K. Mann sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $7,946,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 181,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,412,772.64. The trade was a 35.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold a total of 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Company 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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