Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Jumps 2% – Time to Buy?

Coca-Cola Company (The) (NYSE:KO)’s share price was up 2% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $96.26 and last traded at $95.9340. Approximately 21,012,820 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 24% from the average daily volume of 16,930,443 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KO. HSBC raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seaport Research Partners set a $95.00 target price on Coca-Cola in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $91.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.26.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 2.0%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $412.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.28.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 28.65% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The business had revenue of $13.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Coca-Cola Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total transaction of $4,519,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,186,798.70. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Sanket Ray sold 9,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $861,367.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 62,105 shares in the company, valued at $5,372,082.50. The trade was a 13.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 171,323 shares of company stock worth $15,507,286 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 44,018,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,347,642,000 after buying an additional 3,836,640 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in Coca-Cola by 1,763.2% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 3,383,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201,742 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $260,682,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Coca-Cola by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,053,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,361,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,439,026 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter valued at $197,470,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1886, it is best known for Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most recognized soft drink brands.

The company owns, licenses, and markets a broad portfolio of beverages, including sparkling soft drinks, water, sports drinks, coffee, tea, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages, and energy drinks. Its brands include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Dasani, smartwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, fairlife, and Costa Coffee, among others.

The Coca-Cola Company serves consumers in more than 200 countries and territories through a system that includes company-operated operations, independent bottling partners, distributors, retailers, and food-service providers.