CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) shares dropped 1.3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $67.66 and last traded at $68.0090. Approximately 15,638,869 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 16,791,912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CocaCola from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 price target on CocaCola and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.31.

CocaCola Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.65. The firm has a market cap of $292.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%.The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 67.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, Director Max R. Levchin acquired 7,206 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $69.87 per share, with a total value of $503,483.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,835.29. This trade represents a 102.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 13,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.93, for a total value of $947,411.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,109.25. This represents a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CocaCola

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CocaCola during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,846,270,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the first quarter valued at $1,508,657,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after acquiring an additional 16,383,870 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in CocaCola in the 1st quarter worth $642,183,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in CocaCola by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 367,441,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,996,519,000 after acquiring an additional 6,241,163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola 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.