Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.6%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price was up 0.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $62.59 and last traded at $61.95. Approximately 6,746,617 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 13,874,439 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Barclays increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.09.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $266.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.74.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950,146 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,138,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,618 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $2,808,056,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,514,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,664 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,564,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,390,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,893,061 shares during the period. 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.