Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & Co. cut its Coca-Cola stake by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 196,495 shares and leaving it with 2.11 million shares valued at about $147.6 million.
• Institutional ownership of Coca-Cola remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 70.26% of the stock; several big firms, including Vanguard and Capital World Investors, increased their positions.
• Coca-Cola continues to draw supportive commentary from Wall Street after strong Q1 results and bullish analyst actions, with 15 Buy ratings, a consensus Moderate Buy, and an average price target of $86.69.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,111,538 shares of the company's stock after selling 196,495 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's holdings in CocaCola were worth $147,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of KO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth $3,865,807,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,573,527 shares of the company's stock worth $879,015,000 after acquiring an additional 6,246,627 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 374,771,512 shares of the company's stock worth $26,200,276,000 after acquiring an additional 5,886,352 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,679,192 shares of the company's stock worth $2,004,962,000 after acquiring an additional 5,529,810 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 15.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,094,276 shares of the company's stock worth $2,592,732,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

More CocaCola News

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated its buy view on Coca-Cola, reinforcing Wall Street’s generally favorable stance on KO and supporting the stock’s recent strength.
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted Coca-Cola as a potential beneficiary of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with expectations that beverage volume and consumer spending could rise during the tournament.
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary also pointed to strong Q1 results, including an earnings and revenue beat, solid organic growth, and volume gains, which continue to underpin the bullish investment case. Coca-Cola’s Q1 Results Prove It's a Good Buy to Hold and Hold
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest remains supported by Coca-Cola’s reliable dividend and defensive profile, which continue to attract income-focused buyers.
• Neutral Sentiment: EVP Jennifer K. Mann disclosed a stock sale, but it was conducted under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan and tied to equity-award tax withholding, making it less of a concern than discretionary insider selling.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KO. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on CocaCola in a research report on Thursday. They set a "market perform" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised CocaCola from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on CocaCola from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on CocaCola from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.69.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,074,096.90. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $7,946,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 207,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,480,004. The trade was a 32.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold 899,905 shares of company stock valued at $71,832,315 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $82.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $78.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.68. 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 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $84.04.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $12.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.CocaCola's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

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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