Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) has been assigned a $45.00 target price by investment analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a a “neutral” rating on the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s target price indicates a potential upside of 3.09% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on KO. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 31st. Vetr cut Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $45.44 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, April 4th. Zacks Investment Research raised Coca-Cola from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 12th. Bank of America Corp. reissued a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Tuesday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Wednesday, April 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.33.
In other Coca-Cola news, EVP J Alexander Douglas, Jr. sold 572,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.25, for a total value of $25,916,847.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 291,675 shares in the company, valued at $13,198,293.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian John Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total value of $2,216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 70,947 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,371.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The business earned $11.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post $1.94 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 15th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 13th.
A number of hedge funds have bought and sold shares of the stock. Crossvault Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.6% in the second quarter. Crossvault Capital Management LLC now owns 12,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the second quarter worth $1,224,000. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.9% in the second quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 92,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,183,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.2% in the second quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. now owns 173,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,844,000 after buying an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Midwest Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 14.1% in the second quarter. First Midwest Bank Trust Division now owns 72,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,277,000 after buying an additional 8,943 shares in the last quarter.
The Coca-Cola Company is a beverage company. The Company owns or licenses and markets over 500 nonalcoholic beverage brands, primarily sparkling beverages but also a range of still beverages, such as waters, enhanced waters, juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and energy and sports drinks.
