Analysts Set The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Target Price at $72.14

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.50.

Several analysts have commented on KO shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.9 %

KO stock opened at $63.84 on Friday. Coca-Cola has a twelve month low of $57.47 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $275.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.68 and a 200 day moving average of $66.59.

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

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after buying an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after buying an additional 59,503 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,122,000 after buying an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after buying an additional 21,005 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

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.