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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KO. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, October 26th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Coca-Cola from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.26.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 2.0%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $13.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.92 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 28.65% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 111,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.93, for a total value of $10,126,419.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,761,319.45. This trade represents a 72.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $861,367.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 62,105 shares in the company, valued at $5,372,082.50. This trade represents a 13.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 171,323 shares of company stock worth $15,507,286 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 3.1% in the second quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 1,090,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,646,000 after acquiring an additional 32,723 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 402.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 163,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,052,000 after purchasing an additional 130,746 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 68.5% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 218,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,733,000 after purchasing an additional 88,690 shares in the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the second quarter worth $12,905,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2,091.3% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,414,000 after purchasing an additional 345,417 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.