CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $91.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. CocaCola traded as high as $82.62 and last traded at $82.5820, with a volume of 2946914 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $81.20.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CocaCola from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price target on CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial set a $85.00 price target on CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on CocaCola from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $86.53.

Insider Activity

In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 9.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman James Quincey sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.90, for a total value of $15,780,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 78,155 shares in the company, valued at $6,166,429.50. The trade was a 71.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 755,101 shares of company stock valued at $59,988,566 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup and Wells Fargo both raised their price targets on Coca-Cola, reinforcing a bullish Wall Street view that the company can keep delivering steady earnings growth and defend its premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says KO’s Q1 results showed strong revenue growth, pricing gains, and margin expansion, supporting the case for continued profitability and resilience in a higher-rate environment.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts pointed to the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a potential demand catalyst that could boost Coca-Cola’s volumes, especially during the summer season.
• Positive Sentiment: Coca-Cola’s launch of Fresca Hard expands its ready-to-drink alcohol portfolio, adding another growth avenue and broadening the company’s presence in newer beverage categories.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on international growth noted that strong overseas performance is helping results, but foreign exchange swings, conflicts, and commodity inflation could add volatility. Coca-Cola’s International Growth: Key Driver or Volatility Risk?
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent discussion has focused on insider selling, which may create a small overhang for sentiment, though it does not appear to be changing the broader bullish analyst outlook.

Institutional Trading of CocaCola

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 374,771,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,200,276,000 after purchasing an additional 5,886,352 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 167,850,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,734,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,327 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,865,807,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 44,018,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,347,642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836,640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $354.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

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.