Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $73.86 and last traded at $73.70, with a volume of 8687289 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.42. The company has a market cap of $314.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total transaction of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 147.0% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 7,461 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the first quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 19,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.