Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price traded up 0.2% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $78.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $72.30 and last traded at $72.22. 1,787,498 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 13,078,214 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.10.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on KO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Argus increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,398,603.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock valued at $579,704,927 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 21,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. American Trust grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 15.5% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 15,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Coca-Cola by 7.2% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth about $3,611,000. Finally, Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter valued at about $367,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.4 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.65 and a 200-day moving average of $64.13. The company has a market capitalization of $309.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

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.