Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.5%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price traded up 0.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $71.12 and last traded at $71.07. 2,781,918 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 13,106,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.73.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.13 and its 200 day moving average is $63.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $307.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $2,808,056,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,127.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,972,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,043,000 after acquiring an additional 4,928,441 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $193,342,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,051,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973,234 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.