Analysts Set The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) PT at $72.36

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.36.

A number of research firms have recently commented on KO. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $61.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $265.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.82 and its 200 day moving average is $66.48. 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 $56.70 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. This trade represents a 7.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,987,070.92. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 303,748 shares of company stock worth $20,677,431 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth about $269,382,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter valued at about $188,448,000. 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.