Brokerages Set The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Price Target at $67.22

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.22.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $62.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.96.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 42.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 323,107 shares of company stock worth $19,657,742. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.