Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 0% – Should You Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price shot up 0% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $70.74 and last traded at $70.22. 6,591,843 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 17,212,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.5 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Equities analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total transaction of $10,327,339.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. 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.