Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traded up 0.5% on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $68.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $58.80 and last traded at $58.56. 2,132,499 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 13,710,254 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.28.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.18.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at about $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,255,000 after acquiring an additional 43,680 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 385.3% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 15,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 11.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,115,000 after purchasing an additional 301,804 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.1 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

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.