CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 1% - What's Next?

Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) were up 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $69.73 and last traded at $69.55. Approximately 3,449,662 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 15,947,485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KO. Cfra Research raised shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

CocaCola Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $302.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.16.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 45.49%. CocaCola's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CocaCola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. CocaCola's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 275,946 shares in the company, valued at $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 415,387 shares of company stock worth $29,923,985 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CocaCola

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CocaCola by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,869,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,422 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CocaCola by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,398,185,000 after purchasing an additional 16,383,870 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

About CocaCola

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.