The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Receives $75.59 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.59.

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, March 27th.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 462,407 shares of company stock valued at $32,990,056 in the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.0% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,376,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $957,994,000 after purchasing an additional 988,201 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 11,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.2% in the first quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 11,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,343,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 6.7% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 361,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,990,000 after purchasing an additional 22,634 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $70.62 on Wednesday. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.95 and a 200 day moving average of $66.65. The company has a market capitalization of $303.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 81.60%.

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.