Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Stake in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,427,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,485,195 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.29% of CocaCola worth $824,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KO. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in CocaCola during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CocaCola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on CocaCola from $88.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on CocaCola from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 28,765 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total value of $2,284,228.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 250,688 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.14, for a total value of $19,839,448.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 278,155 shares in the company, valued at $22,013,186.70. This represents a 47.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 892,925 shares of company stock worth $70,254,796. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Stock Down 0.4%

KO stock opened at $77.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.60 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $82.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.64 and a 200 day moving average of $71.39.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $11.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.04 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 27.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from CocaCola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is currently 67.11%.

About CocaCola

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.