The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.73.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on KO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. 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. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,549,000 after acquiring an additional 89,139 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,255,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE KO opened at $72.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $310.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $51.55 and a 1-year high of $72.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.95.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. 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.