CocaCola Company (The) $KO Stock Holdings Decreased by Korea Investment CORP

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP sold 410,463 shares of CocaCola, reducing its stake by 11.6% to 3,134,748 shares, which now represents 0.5% of its investment portfolio.
• CocaCola's CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares valued at approximately $19.2 million, decreasing his ownership by 49.12%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, with an upcoming payment date of October 1st, translating to an annual yield of 2.9%.

Korea Investment CORP reduced its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,134,748 shares of the company's stock after selling 410,463 shares during the quarter. CocaCola makes up 0.5% of Korea Investment CORP's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of CocaCola worth $224,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,114,422 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter worth about $1,508,657,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 18,408,210 shares of the company's stock worth $1,148,609,000 after buying an additional 1,155,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 866,773 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CocaCola has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.21.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of KO traded up $0.5090 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $70.6390. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,527,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,082,515. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.44. 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 Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.9%. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. This trade represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

About CocaCola

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.