Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $64.35 and last traded at $63.90. Approximately 3,162,388 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 13,223,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $275.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total value of $2,804,826.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,150,619.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,748 shares of company stock valued at $14,274,431 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $269,382,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth $188,448,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth $157,087,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.