Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Down 0.8% on Analyst Downgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price was down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $76.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as low as $67.37 and last traded at $67.46. Approximately 3,867,049 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 13,196,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.01.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on KO. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.87.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 319,005 shares of company stock worth $22,198,147 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $188,448,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at about $157,087,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443,612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.74 and its 200 day moving average is $65.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

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.