Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $64.35 and last traded at $63.90. 3,162,388 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 13,223,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.0 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

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 stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,150,619.18. This 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 through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,150,619.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,748 shares of company stock worth $14,274,431. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the 1st 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after buying an additional 1,084,475 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in 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. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,793,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $847,468,000 after acquiring an additional 222,028 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is 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.