Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 0.4% After Analyst Downgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) was down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $75.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as low as $63.03 and last traded at $63.41. Approximately 5,122,844 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 13,524,892 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.65.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Cfra reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 acquiring an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth about $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $188,448,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.75 and a 200-day moving average of $66.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $273.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.