Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.8%

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) traded up 0.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $59.61 and last traded at $59.39. 3,280,038 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 13,631,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.09.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $259.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50-day moving average is $59.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.56.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is currently 78.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 52,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,602,980. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,672,479,000 after acquiring an additional 57,678,466 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $2,808,056,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company's stock worth $5,031,669,000 after buying an additional 10,722,435 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 164.7% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company's stock worth $868,981,000 after buying an additional 8,979,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Coca-Cola by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,523,659 shares of the company's stock worth $2,211,268,000 after acquiring an additional 8,050,499 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.