Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.9% – What’s Next?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price rose 0.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $70.07 and last traded at $69.78. Approximately 3,248,074 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 13,922,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $300.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.54. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Members Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,369,000. Hara Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 691 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $330,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 35,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,179,000 after buying an additional 7,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 40,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,526,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

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.