Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 3.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 206,621 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,362 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $13,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 2nd quarter worth $3,846,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 367,441,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,996,519,000 after acquiring an additional 6,241,163 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 7,239.2% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,149,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,086,000 after acquiring an additional 6,065,840 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in CocaCola by 343.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,486,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474,015 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 11,713,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $828,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,613,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 337,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.10, for a total value of $26,046,230.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,410,296.60. This trade represents a 49.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Henrique Braun named CEO, effective March 31 — new leadership is being framed as a potential growth catalyst that could refresh strategy and investor confidence. 6 Reasons to Buy Coca-Cola Stock Like There’s No Tomorrow
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been raising price targets after Coca?Cola’s Q4 beat, which supports upside expectations from the street. Coca-Cola’s Week in Review: Analysts Raise Price Targets Q4 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend durability remains a key investor anchor — KO is a long-time Dividend King with many years of consecutive raises, making it attractive to income-focused investors and defensive portfolios. 2 Unstoppable Dividend Stocks to Buy if There’s a Stock Market Sell-Off
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results were mixed: EPS beat and global value?share gains, but revenue growth slowed and regional volume trends varied across categories — this tempers conviction about near?term momentum. Coca-Cola’s Q4 Metrics Signal Growth or Slowing Momentum?
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/marketing partnership: CineVantage joined Coca?Cola Refreshing Films as a technical partner for sound and music mentorship — a modest marketing/CSR initiative unlikely to move the stock materially. CineVantage Joins Coca-Cola® Refreshing Films as Technical Partner for Sound Design and Music Composition Mentorship

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $78.68 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $338.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.36. CocaCola Company has a 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $80.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.17.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced 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. CocaCola had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 27.34%.The company had revenue of $11.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.210-3.240 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their target price on CocaCola from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CocaCola from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $84.19.

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.