Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading 0.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traded up 0.4% during trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $74.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $69.97 and last traded at $69.86. 1,245,992 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 13,156,444 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.57.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.33.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $14,507,516.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $1,253,987.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $14,507,516.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total value of $3,981,938.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,074,330.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 376,096 shares of company stock worth $25,982,352 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after buying an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at $188,448,000. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at $157,087,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Coca-Cola by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,245,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,515,000 after buying an additional 1,866,348 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $303.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.56 and a 200 day moving average of $65.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

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.