Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price rose 0.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $71.32 and last traded at $71.19. Approximately 3,018,805 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 14,024,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.0 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.43 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, 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 value of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 46.4% in the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 5,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,174,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,194,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,722,000 after purchasing an additional 364,526 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola 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.