Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.8% – Here’s Why

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price shot up 0.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $71.06 and last traded at $71.05. 4,446,048 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 17,402,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on KO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $307.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.58.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $558,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $295,000. TFR Capital LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $253,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 198,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,364,000 after acquiring an additional 77,191 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.