Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price rose 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $67.68 and last traded at $67.51. Approximately 2,518,824 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 13,211,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.87.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.0 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $289.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,398,603.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,398,603.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 319,005 shares of company stock worth $22,198,147 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at about $188,448,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at about $157,087,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.