Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.8%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares were up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $63.66 and last traded at $63.65. Approximately 2,302,676 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 12,982,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on KO shares. Argus boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.82 and a 200 day moving average of $60.85. The firm has a market cap of $273.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after buying an additional 1,950,146 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,808,056,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after buying an additional 814,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,866,000 after purchasing an additional 378,447 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.