Insider Selling: The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) CFO Sells 88,658 Shares of Stock

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,225,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,515,531. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $70.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. The Coca-Cola Company has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Republic Capital LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.1% in the first quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.7% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 20,099 shares of the company's stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.2% during the first quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 12,443 shares of the company's stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BXM Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 3,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KO. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research raised Coca-Cola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.59.

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.