The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.60.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth approximately $18,383,000. Balentine LLC raised its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 13,685 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after acquiring an additional 59,503 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,122,000 after acquiring an additional 46,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 21,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of KO opened at $61.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.52. Coca-Cola has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.