Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Down 1.1% on Insider Selling

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) dropped 1.1% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $70.64 and last traded at $70.68. Approximately 3,512,503 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 16,735,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.49.

Specifically, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $304.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.44. 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 posted 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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. On average, analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 78.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $1,461,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $243,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $338,000. Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,076,000. Finally, Shufro Rose & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC now owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.