Brokerages Set The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Price Target at $73.82

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.82.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KO. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of 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, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the firm’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock worth $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KO. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. XY Planning Network Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $524,000. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,461,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth about $243,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $70.93 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53.

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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. Analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 82.59%.

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.