Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Down 0.9% – Should You Sell?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price fell 0.9% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $61.78 and last traded at $61.97. 4,628,746 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 13,267,395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $266.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.61, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.48.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total value of $2,804,826.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. This represents a 35.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. This represents a 7.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 303,748 shares of company stock worth $20,677,431. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,479,000 after buying an additional 177,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,793,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $847,468,000 after purchasing an additional 222,028 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.