Insider Selling: The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) COO Sells 25,277 Shares of Stock

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) COO Henrique Braun sold 25,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.47, for a total value of $1,806,547.19. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,749,745.02. This trade represents a 32.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE KO opened at $69.16 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.58. The Coca-Cola Company has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,402,151,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KO shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.24.

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.