Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading 1.8% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $74.00 to $78.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $74.24 and last traded at $74.10. Approximately 3,126,282 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 15,341,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.77.

KO has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,749,745.02. This represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Rice Partnership LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 102,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after buying an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 8,499 shares during the period. Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,582,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Coca-Cola by 222.9% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 192,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,814,000 after acquiring an additional 132,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 893,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,610,000 after purchasing an additional 8,810 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $318.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.37.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly 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%. Research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s 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.