The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.07.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total transaction of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,507,516.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,479,000 after buying an additional 177,241 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after buying an additional 378,447 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,698,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,924,000 after buying an additional 2,964,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $71.86 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.85. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $309.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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.