CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $85.69 and last traded at $84.6490, with a volume of 363834 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $84.92.

CocaCola News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are rotating into defensive names ahead of Coca-Cola’s July 28 earnings report, helping support the shares as the stock has been trading near all-time highs. What's Going on With Coca-Cola Stock Friday?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary has highlighted Coca-Cola’s strength as a durable dividend stock, with a newly ????? quarterly dividend reinforcing its income appeal for long-term holders.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and market coverage continue to frame KO as a high-quality consumer staple with strong cash generation, but much of that optimism appears already reflected in the stock’s elevated valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Coca-Cola disclosed that its fairlife subsidiary suffered a ransomware attack that forced a halt to all U.S. production, raising concerns about near-term disruption, recovery costs, and broader cyber risk. Coca-Cola says fairlife halts US production after cyber attack
• Negative Sentiment: The fairlife issue may matter financially because the unit is a meaningful business for Coca-Cola, so investors are watching for any impact on sales, margins, and management’s comments when earnings are reported later this month.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $91.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.81.

CocaCola Trading Down 1.1%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $81.18 and a 200-day moving average of $77.60. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $361.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.34.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In related news, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of CocaCola 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 122,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,842,608.29. The trade was a 78.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the company’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 directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $18,074,096.90. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CocaCola

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in CocaCola by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CocaCola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in CocaCola in the first quarter valued at $210,000. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of CocaCola by 450.5% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 39,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after buying an additional 32,392 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in CocaCola by 548.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.