Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Up 0.2% Following Dividend Announcement

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $71.73 and last traded at $71.43. Approximately 3,765,327 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 18,334,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.29.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.90 and a 200-day moving average of $66.59. The stock has a market cap of $308.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,423 shares of company stock worth $22,263,071 in the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in Coca-Cola by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,949,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,222,885 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.