Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its Coca‑Cola stake by 19.4% in Q4 to 1,796,760 shares, valued at about $125.6 million.
• KO is widely rated a Buy by analysts with a consensus price target of $85.00, and several firms recently raised targets into the high $80s/low $90s.
• Company insiders have sold large positions recently (CEO James Quincey sold 337,824 shares; EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556), and Coca‑Cola raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53, a ~2.8% yield.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,796,760 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 292,163 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in CocaCola were worth $125,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in CocaCola by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock worth $2,433,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in CocaCola in the first quarter worth about $210,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in CocaCola by 450.5% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 39,583 shares of the company's stock worth $2,800,000 after buying an additional 32,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 548.2% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $88.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $1,872,702.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,754,735. This represents a 9.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 337,824 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.10, for a total transaction of $26,046,230.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 342,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,410,296.60. The trade was a 49.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 892,925 shares of company stock valued at $70,254,796. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of KO stock opened at $74.63 on Thursday. CocaCola Company has a 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $82.00. The stock has a market cap of $321.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.11.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 41.31%. The business had revenue of $11.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from CocaCola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.74%.

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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