Brokerages Set The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) PT at $72.14

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO opened at $63.12 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.61. The stock has a market cap of $271.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $57.47 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 12,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH grew its position in Coca-Cola by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 417,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,552,000 after purchasing an additional 32,047 shares in the last quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 26,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 2,036 shares during the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 11,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 9,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Coca-Cola

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.