Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares traded up 0.3% on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $68.00 to $69.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $62.31 and last traded at $62.09. 1,957,099 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 13,937,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.93.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on KO. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 323,107 shares of company stock worth $19,657,742. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 30,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Elk River Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $268.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.22 and a 200 day moving average of $59.06.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

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.