Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price rose 0.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $62.12 and last traded at $61.94. Approximately 2,722,420 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 13,317,218 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $267.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.63 and its 200-day moving average is $66.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $2,804,826.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,150,619.18. The trade was a 35.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 303,748 shares of company stock worth $20,677,431. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 10,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 5.5% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,825,000 after buying an additional 6,409 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 11.3% during the third quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% in the third quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 10,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.