Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shot up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $63.64 and last traded at $63.45. 3,046,843 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 13,879,786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $273.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.65.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KO. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth about $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,104,000 after buying an additional 2,443,612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.