CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Receives $79.08 Average PT from Brokerages

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.0769.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on CocaCola from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Friday, December 5th.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $69.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.00. CocaCola has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $301.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.43 and a 200-day moving average of $69.42.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 43.62%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CocaCola will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 67.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Max R. Levchin purchased 7,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.87 per share, for a total transaction of $503,483.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,835.29. This represents a 102.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 13,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.93, for a total value of $947,411.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,638,109.25. This trade represents a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 225,252 shares of company stock worth $15,953,007 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CocaCola

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CocaCola by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,885,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,464,464,000 after buying an additional 1,443,189 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in CocaCola by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 165,858,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,083,296,000 after purchasing an additional 923,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CocaCola during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,846,270,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in CocaCola by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,094,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,732,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,198 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 6.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,889,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,212,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794,561 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca?Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca?Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready?to?drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca?Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca?Cola, Diet Coke, Coca?Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.