Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,750,655 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,026 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $589,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 4th quarter worth about $3,865,807,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 867.2% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,432,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,954,000 after buying an additional 12,939,959 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 1,206.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 10,641,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,913,000 after buying an additional 9,826,768 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,182,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,809,146,000 after buying an additional 9,078,447 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in CocaCola by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,573,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,015,000 after buying an additional 6,246,627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KO. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Truist Financial set a $88.00 target price on CocaCola in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America raised their target price on CocaCola from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.06.

Trending Headlines about CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Coca-Cola declared its 64th consecutive annual dividend increase, reinforcing its status as a Dividend King and appealing to income-focused investors. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and Evercore ISI were both reported as bullish on KO, with Bank of America seeing about 15% upside and Evercore reiterating a buy rating, which can support investor confidence. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Coca-Cola as a low-beta defensive stock as geopolitical tensions and market volatility increase demand for stable, dividend-paying names. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on Coca-Cola’s digital push suggests the company is using data, personalization, and connected packaging to improve consumer engagement and repeat purchases, which could help long-term growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several comparison pieces versus PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Celsius kept KO in the spotlight as investors debate its valuation, yield, and defensive appeal, but these articles are mostly commentary rather than fresh company-specific catalysts.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $18,074,096.90. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.13, for a total transaction of $34,960,398.48. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 122,833 shares in the company, valued at $9,842,608.29. This represents a 78.03% 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 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:KO opened at $84.25 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $80.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.32. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $85.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $362.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.34.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.47 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

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.