Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 1.8%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shot up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $64.03 and last traded at $63.92. 2,603,683 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 13,087,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.83.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $275.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 213.3% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $28,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.