Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 1.2% - What's Next?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $70.96 and last traded at $71.00. Approximately 3,078,509 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 17,804,758 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.81.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $309.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The stock's 50-day moving average is $71.09 and its 200 day moving average is $66.98.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is 81.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,769,334. This trade represents a 12.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,520,662.64. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock worth $25,869,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,422 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock worth $3,398,185,000 after acquiring an additional 16,383,870 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is 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.