CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Trading Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $82.51 and last traded at $81.6480. Approximately 13,139,418 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 16,703,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen raised their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $85.00 price target on CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $86.80.

CocaCola Stock Up 1.5%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.87. The firm has a market cap of $351.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The business had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Insider Activity at CocaCola

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total transaction of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,074,096.90. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 72,449 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $5,833,593.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 279,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,538,916.84. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 652,289 shares of company stock valued at $51,739,054. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CocaCola

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KO. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 438.8% during the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the first quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of CocaCola in the second quarter worth $26,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CocaCola in the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 1,081.8% in the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.