Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Up 0.8% - Time to Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $71.06 and last traded at $71.05. 4,446,048 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 17,402,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.24.

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Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.5 %

The company 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $65.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company's stock worth $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock worth $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.