Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading 0.2% Higher

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares shot up 0.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $62.82 and last traded at $62.49. 1,996,369 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 13,828,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 323,107 shares of company stock valued at $19,657,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $2,808,056,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 11,138.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,343,000 after buying an additional 4,933,527 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $193,342,000. Putnam Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,051,000 after buying an additional 2,973,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,564,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,390,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,893,061 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.