Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 2.3% – Should You Sell?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares fell 2.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $66.75 and last traded at $67.84. 10,086,178 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 13,171,298 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $294.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.75 and its 200-day moving average is $65.94.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released 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 company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total transaction of $2,530,217.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,954,176.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 356,792 shares of company stock valued at $24,728,364 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $102,604,000. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,421,000. Duality Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 191.1% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 111,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 73,434 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Coca-Cola by 0.7% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,935,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,578,000 after purchasing an additional 20,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 11.6% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 226,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,013,000 after purchasing an additional 23,500 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.