Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading 0.2% Higher – Here’s Why

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares shot up 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $69.70 and last traded at $69.31. 1,718,850 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 13,225,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on KO. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $299.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.43 and its 200 day moving average is $65.27.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total value of $2,530,217.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,954,176.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total value of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,954,176.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 376,096 shares of company stock worth $25,982,352. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of 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. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after buying an additional 1,084,475 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,479,000 after buying an additional 177,241 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,234 shares during the last quarter. 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.