Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traded up 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $62.84 and last traded at $62.84. 5,019,131 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 14,059,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $270.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.45 and a 200-day moving average price 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.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The business 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 business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,475 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares in the last quarter. 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.