Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 0.1% – What’s Next?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares fell 0.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $68.65 and last traded at $68.86. 2,733,383 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 14,072,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $304.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

About Coca-Cola

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.