Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Still a Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 0.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $62.43 and last traded at $62.11. Approximately 1,341,095 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 13,941,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $266.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Mount Lucas Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.