Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.2%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $63.00 and last traded at $62.97. Approximately 1,852,886 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 13,746,381 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KO. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.1 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.37 and a 200-day moving average of $59.33. The company has a market capitalization of $270.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current 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 $0.485 dividend. 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 3.08%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 380,405 shares of company stock valued at $23,209,645. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 6.2% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 35,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.5% during the first quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 27,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.6% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 197,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,053,000 after acquiring an additional 6,929 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.6% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,627,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,582,000 after acquiring an additional 56,421 shares during the period. Finally, Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 258.2% during the first quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 34,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after acquiring an additional 24,968 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.