The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Receives $70.73 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.73.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $71.17 on Friday. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.33 and its 200 day moving average is $63.46. The firm has a market cap of $306.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 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 company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,095. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,074,910 shares of company stock valued at $585,972,318. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after buying an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $2,808,056,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,362,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,479,000 after purchasing an additional 177,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after purchasing an additional 814,779 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.