Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Down 0.1%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $63.90 and last traded at $63.96. 1,533,875 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 13,034,772 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KO. StockNews.com cut Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $274.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.71.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The business had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $561,812.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,621.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $561,812.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 223,665 shares of company stock valued at $13,995,465. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KO. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% during the first quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 30,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently 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.