Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $68.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $65.00 to $68.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

KO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an outperform rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $70.20.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.5 %

KO opened at $67.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.50. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $67.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $288.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the firm’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 value of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the firm’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 value of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 841,588 shares of company stock valued at $568,972,027 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,549,000 after acquiring an additional 89,139 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.