Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) fell 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $69.45 and last traded at $69.87. 5,207,808 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 17,335,361 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.08.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages recently weighed in on KO. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.24.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on KO
Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.5 %
The stock has a market capitalization of $307.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $65.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.
Coca-Cola Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Rice Partnership LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company's stock worth $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company's stock worth $8,351,000 after acquiring an additional 59,503 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company's stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 8,499 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,122,000 after acquiring an additional 46,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Coca-Cola
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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