Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in CocaCola Company (The) $KO

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 440,765 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,429 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $35,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in CocaCola by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 167,850,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,734,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,992,327 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 89,984,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,273,037,000 after purchasing an additional 433,547 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CocaCola during the fourth quarter worth about $3,865,807,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 4.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 45,958,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,735,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,289,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,816,697,000 after buying an additional 1,195,581 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $89.00) on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $104.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on CocaCola from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CocaCola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.76.

CocaCola Price Performance

NYSE KO opened at $87.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. CocaCola Company has a 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $92.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $85.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.00. The stock has a market cap of $378.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.34.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. CocaCola had a net margin of 28.56% and a return on equity of 39.38%. The business had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total transaction of $4,519,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,186,798.70. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Chairman James Quincey sold 145,947 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $13,148,365.23. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 122,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,066,024.97. The trade was a 54.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold 1,594,900 shares of company stock valued at $136,568,617 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.