Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Down 0.3% – Time to Sell?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price dropped 0.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $63.65 and last traded at $63.74. Approximately 4,100,766 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 13,241,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $273.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.51.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 3.06%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total value of $2,804,826.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,150,619.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa Chang sold 40,334 shares of Coca-Cola 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,150,619.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 203,748 shares of company stock worth $14,274,431 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first 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 buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth $269,382,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964,850 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at about $188,448,000. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter worth about $157,087,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.