Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.5%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price rose 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $58.85 and last traded at $58.78. Approximately 2,143,370 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 13,658,931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.18.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $59.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.52. The stock has a market cap of $253.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 78.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,808,056,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,031,669,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722,435 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 164.7% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,979,379 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,523,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,211,268,000 after purchasing an additional 8,050,499 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

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.