Insider Selling: The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) CEO Sells 145,435 Shares of Stock

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.0 %

KO stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.86. The stock had a trading volume of 5,288,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,725,477. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $304.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KO. Barclays lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.24.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,716,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,201 shares of the company's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 39,326 shares of the company's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.6% during the third quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 5,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. 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.