Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $69.45, but opened at $66.99. Coca-Cola shares last traded at $67.82, with a volume of 4,806,567 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on KO. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.87.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.0 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $289.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.96.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 319,005 shares of company stock worth $22,198,147. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter valued at about $102,604,000. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth approximately $7,421,000. Duality Advisers LP raised 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 worth $6,843,000 after buying an additional 73,434 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,935,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,578,000 after acquiring an additional 20,048 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in Coca-Cola by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 226,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,013,000 after acquiring an additional 23,500 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by 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.