Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.7% – What’s Next?

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $63.86 and last traded at $63.59. Approximately 4,072,470 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 13,804,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on KO. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $270.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth about $18,383,000. Balentine LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 13,685 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Coca-Cola by 5.8% in 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, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 21,005 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.