Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traded down 0.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $61.78 and last traded at $61.97. 4,628,746 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 13,267,395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $68.63 and its 200 day moving average is $66.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $265.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.14%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. This represents a 35.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 8.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 303,748 shares of company stock worth $20,677,431 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 11.3% in the third quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 10,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,126,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 80,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,786,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.