Short Interest in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Drops By 14.0%

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 46,168,060 shares, a drop of 14.0% from the March 15th total of 53,713,859 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,423,528 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

CocaCola Stock Performance

KO traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.88. The stock had a trading volume of 6,695,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,533,973. The firm has a market cap of $326.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 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. CocaCola has a 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $82.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.82.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. CocaCola had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 27.34%.The company had revenue of $11.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. Analysts expect that CocaCola will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from CocaCola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their target price on CocaCola from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 28,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total transaction of $2,284,228.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,754,735. The trade was a 9.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 892,925 shares of company stock worth $70,254,796 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CocaCola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in CocaCola by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 374,771,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,200,276,000 after buying an additional 5,886,352 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 167,850,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,734,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,992,327 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 89,984,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,273,037,000 after acquiring an additional 433,547 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at $3,865,807,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,289,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,816,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,581 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.