The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Receives $75.59 Consensus PT from Brokerages

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.59.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.8 %

KO stock opened at $70.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.65. The company has a market cap of $303.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $60.62 and a fifty-two week high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. The trade was a 24.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 145,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.01, for a total value of $10,327,339.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,324,191.46. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

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