Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading 0.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $74.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $69.97 and last traded at $69.86. 1,245,992 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 13,156,444 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.57.

KO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total transaction of $3,981,938.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,074,330.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 376,096 shares of company stock valued at $25,982,352 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Creative Planning increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,852,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,123,000 after buying an additional 70,604 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.4% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 106,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,686,000 after acquiring an additional 12,640 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.0% during the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 9,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $300.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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 firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for 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%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 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.