W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Buys New Stake in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co bought a new stake of 36,065 shares (~$2.52M) in Coca‑Cola (NYSE:KO) during the fourth quarter, according to its Form 13F filing.
• Coca‑Cola beat Q1 estimates ( $0.86 EPS on $12.47B revenue), raised FY26 EPS guidance to 3.240–3.270, and saw multiple analyst upgrades and price‑target increases.
• Company insiders sold a total of 892,925 shares (~$70.25M) last quarter (including notable sales by Bruno Pietracci and Nancy Quan), with insiders now owning about 0.90% of the stock.

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co bought a new stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 36,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,521,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and guidance lift — KO reported $0.86 EPS vs. $0.81 consensus, revenue topped estimates and management raised FY26 EPS guidance to $3.240–3.270, signaling durable pricing/power and prompting the rally. Coca‑Cola shares gain after strong Q1 sales drive higher EPS forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price‑target raises — Multiple shops pushed ratings/targets higher (UBS to $92 buy; JPMorgan raised target to $85/overweight; BofA to $90 and Barclays initiated a Buy), adding upside to the stock. Coca‑Cola (KO) Gets a Buy from Barclays JPMorgan note (Benzinga) BofA raises target to $90
• Positive Sentiment: Top‑line momentum and mix shift — Organic/volume strength (roughly 10% organic growth in Q1) and faster growth in water, sports drinks, coffee and tea support upside beyond legacy soda. Coca‑Cola shows 10% revenue growth (Barchart) Portfolio shift beyond soda (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Elevated options activity — Unusually large call buying indicates bullish speculative/hedge positioning into and after the print (notable increase in call volume).
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings / analyst materials available — Full earnings call and shareholder/analyst transcripts and slide deck published for deeper investor review. Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Headlines and legacy narrative — Coverage highlighting Warren Buffett/Berkshire’s long‑running Coca‑Cola stake has re‑emerged in the press, which can attract dividend‑oriented flows but is not new fundamental news. Buffett coverage (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: One‑off adjustments and regional weakness flagged — Some analysts caution Q1 reported growth benefited from extra days/timing effects and noted Asia‑Pacific margin pressure, tempering sustainability of the headline rate. Calendar‑illusion caution (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Minor analyst estimate cut — Erste trimmed FY27 EPS slightly, a small reminder that consensus forecasts remain under review despite the upbeat print.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $88.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.27.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 28,765 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total transaction of $2,284,228.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $1,872,702.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,754,735. This represents a 9.54% 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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of CocaCola stock opened at $78.84 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $77.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.36. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $82.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.46.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.28 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 41.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from CocaCola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.74%.

About CocaCola

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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