Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Coverage Initiated at BNP Paribas

Equities researchers at BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas’ price target points to a potential upside of 12.80% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on KO. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.83.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $63.83 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $274.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.69. Coca-Cola has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $64.36.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,665 shares of company stock worth $13,995,465 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 167.0% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,338 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 67,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,766,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 147,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,239,000 after acquiring an additional 9,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 4,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.