Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Down 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price dropped 0.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $71.56 and last traded at $71.68. Approximately 6,869,957 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 16,998,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KO. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.73 and a 200 day moving average of $66.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 29,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.