Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares were up 0.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $63.75 and last traded at $63.42. Approximately 4,038,512 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 13,243,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $269.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,150,619.18. The trade was a 35.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 303,748 shares of company stock valued at $20,677,431 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 105,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,546,000 after buying an additional 2,935 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,300,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,307,000 after buying an additional 28,664 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 4.7% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.0% in the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 588,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,319,000 after acquiring an additional 28,299 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Coca-Cola

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.