Coca-Cola (KO) Chairman James Quincey Sells Shares After Exercising Options

What Happened

• James Quincey, Chairman and Director of The Coca-Cola Company, exercised stock options and immediately sold the resulting 527,087 shares. He exercised 381,140 shares on July 28, 2026 (strike $45.44) and 145,947 shares on July 29, 2026 (strike $45.44). The exercise cost was $23,948,198 (aggregate).
• Those shares were sold in open-market transactions the same days for aggregate proceeds of about $47,468,615. The weighted average sale prices reported were $90.04 (for the 381,140 shares) and $90.09 (for the 145,947 shares). The transactions appear to be effectively a cashless exercise followed by sale.

Key Details

• Transaction dates and prices:
  • 2026-07-28: Exercised 381,140 shares at $45.44 (acquired, $17,317,096); sold 381,140 shares at weighted avg $90.04 (proceeds ~$34,319,637). Sale prices ranged $90.00–$90.21. (Footnote F2)
  • 2026-07-29: Exercised 145,947 shares at $45.44 (acquired, $6,631,102); sold 145,947 shares at weighted avg $90.09 (proceeds ~$13,148,978). Sale prices ranged $90.00–$90.26. (Footnote F3)
• Aggregate: 527,087 shares exercised and sold; exercise cost ~$23.95M; gross sale proceeds ~$47.47M; implied pre-tax spread ≈ $23.52M.
• Shares owned after the transactions: not specified on the Form 4 (the filing lists the exercised/sold amounts but does not give a total post-transaction balance).
• Notable footnotes:
  • F1: The July 28 sale was executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan established March 5, 2026.
  • F5: The options exercised trace to a Feb 21, 2019 grant under the 2014 Equity Plan (options vested over four years).
  • The $0 derivative disposition entries reflect conversion/exercise of the options (reporting of derivative instrument disposition upon exercise).
• Filing timeliness: Form 4 was filed July 30, 2026 for transactions on July 28–29 — no indication of a late filing.

Context

• This is a routine executive option exercise followed by an immediate sale (cashless exercise), which is common for tax/compensation purposes and does not by itself indicate a change in insider sentiment. The sale on July 28 was executed under a pre-established 10b5-1 plan, which schedules trades in advance.