Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $64.48 and last traded at $63.85. Approximately 5,859,636 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 13,398,273 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KO shares. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, 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. Four equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $275.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.50.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. This trade represents a 7.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,881 shares of company stock worth $10,693,244 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.4% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 182,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,116,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 617,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,401,000 after acquiring an additional 196,124 shares during the period. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 8,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the period. 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.