The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Insider Bruno Pietracci Sells 19,058 Shares

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $71.20. 12,227,377 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,837,910. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.42. The Coca-Cola Company has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $306.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. 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 quarterly 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, analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

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.