Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading 0.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 0.2% on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $80.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $71.20 and last traded at $71.33. Approximately 5,670,317 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 16,856,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.21.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,716,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 4,757 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,872,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 947,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,428,000 after buying an additional 54,606 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,581,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,611,000 after buying an additional 104,323 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $310.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.73 and a 200-day moving average of $66.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

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.