Wright Investors Service Inc. Reduces Stake in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its holdings in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,519 shares during the quarter. CocaCola comprises 1.3% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $4,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in CocaCola by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 111,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,802,000 after acquiring an additional 30,786 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its position in CocaCola by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 49,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 22,444 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in CocaCola by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,051,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,086,000 after acquiring an additional 57,407 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lifted its position in CocaCola by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 185,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,269,000 after acquiring an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in CocaCola by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 10,408,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,311,000 after acquiring an additional 198,886 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $88.00 price target on CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CocaCola from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.00.

CocaCola Stock Performance

CocaCola stock opened at $75.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.82. The company has a market capitalization of $323.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.36. CocaCola Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.35 and a fifty-two week high of $82.00.

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

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from CocaCola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 72,449 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $5,833,593.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 279,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,538,916.84. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 28,765 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total value of $2,284,228.65. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 892,925 shares of company stock worth $70,254,796 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.