Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target Raised to $69.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its target price raised by Barclays from $68.00 to $69.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $62.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Coca-Cola has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.25. The company has a market cap of $268.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.24 and its 200 day moving average is $59.19.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 323,107 shares of company stock valued at $19,657,742 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.