Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Down 0.1% - Should You Sell?

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) shares fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $71.40 and last traded at $71.85. 3,202,579 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 15,347,850 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KO. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised shares of Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $312.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $70.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.58.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,337,000 after purchasing an additional 12,222,885 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.