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

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

KO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $68.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $293.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $55.10 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.96.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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 Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total value of $1,274,333.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,398,603.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total value of $2,667,443.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,398,603.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 356,792 shares of company stock worth $24,728,364 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $102,604,000. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth $7,421,000. Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 191.1% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 111,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 73,434 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,935,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,578,000 after buying an additional 20,048 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 11.6% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 226,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,013,000 after buying an additional 23,500 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.