Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 0.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares traded down 0.2% on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $75.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as low as $63.35 and last traded at $63.92. 2,846,864 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 13,503,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.08.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on KO. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 92.4% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 13,685 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,122,000 after purchasing an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 21,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $274.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

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.