Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 1.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traded up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $84.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $72.68 and last traded at $72.95. 5,371,652 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 15,326,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.68.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI upped 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, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.59.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total value of $3,882,079.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.40. The firm has a market cap of $315.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 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.