Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.3% – What’s Next?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $62.64 and last traded at $62.56. Approximately 1,665,301 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 14,044,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.7 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.59. The firm has a market cap of $270.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after buying an additional 13,685 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,122,000 after acquiring an additional 46,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after buying an additional 21,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.