Blue Trust Inc. Trims Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 906,321 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,566 shares during the period. CocaCola makes up 0.8% of Blue Trust Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $68,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in CocaCola by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors now owns 3,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC increased its stake in CocaCola by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 7,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP increased its stake in CocaCola by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 12,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on CocaCola from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 target price on CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,074,096.90. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Jennifer K. Mann sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $7,946,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 181,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,412,772.64. This trade represents a 35.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 899,905 shares of company stock valued at $71,832,315 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CocaCola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $80.62 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $346.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.35. CocaCola Company has a twelve month low of $65.35 and a twelve month high of $84.04.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 40.55%. CocaCola’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

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.