Woodline Partners LP Increases Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in CocaCola by 40.5%, now holding 327,109 shares valued at approximately $23.4 million, according to its recent SEC filing.
• Insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of CocaCola stock, reducing his position by 15.15% after the transaction.
• CocaCola's stock received favorable ratings from multiple analysts, with an average price target of $77.21 and many expecting positive growth in earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Free Report) by 40.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 327,109 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 94,278 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in CocaCola were worth $23,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter worth $1,508,657,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock worth $3,398,185,000 after purchasing an additional 16,383,870 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in CocaCola during the 1st quarter valued at about $642,183,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 8,419.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,961,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $426,927,000 after acquiring an additional 5,891,034 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 11,844,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $848,315,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810,752 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on KO. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on CocaCola and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $76.93.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $67.00. 18,684,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,985,507. 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 twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $74.38. The company has a market cap of $288.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $69.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.37.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 209,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. This trade represents a 15.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

CocaCola Company Profile

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.