Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.7% - Still a Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $62.84 and last traded at $62.84. Approximately 5,019,131 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 14,059,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KO. Cfra reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KO. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth about $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company's stock worth $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,104,000 after buying an additional 2,443,612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

About Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.