Baillie Gifford & Co. Trims Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its stake in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 760,904 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,472 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $53,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of KO opened at $76.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $328.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.36. CocaCola Company has a 12-month low of $65.35 and a 12-month high of $82.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.71. 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 (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $11.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.04 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 41.31%. CocaCola’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is currently 69.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 28,765 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total transaction of $2,284,228.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $1,872,702.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,754,735. This trade represents a 9.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 892,925 shares of company stock valued at $70,254,796. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.