Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 1.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traded up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $74.00 to $78.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $74.24 and last traded at $74.10. 3,126,282 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 15,341,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.77.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on KO. DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen upgraded 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 Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 over the last three months. Company 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 made changes to their positions in the business. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,037,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 16.9% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 73,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,270,000 after acquiring an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Moser Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 449.5% during the 1st quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $318.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.43.

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 return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 82.59%.

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.