Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.9% – Should You Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares were up 0.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $63.49 and last traded at $63.46. Approximately 3,405,585 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 13,709,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on KO shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.14.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.5 %

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 50 day moving average of $65.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.62. The stock has a market cap of $269.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443,612 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.