Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on KO. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an outperform rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:KO opened at $63.70 on Thursday. Coca-Cola has a 12 month low of $51.55 and a 12 month high of $64.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.10. The stock has a market cap of $274.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,358,962.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 822,284 shares of company stock worth $567,718,040 over the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.6% in the first quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 30,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently 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.