Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0.8%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) rose 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $59.61 and last traded at $59.39. Approximately 3,280,038 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 13,631,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.09.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.0 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,138,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 375,407 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,808,056,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,031,669,000 after acquiring an additional 10,722,435 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 164.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,981,000 after acquiring an additional 8,979,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,523,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,211,268,000 after acquiring an additional 8,050,499 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.