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

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.73.

A number of research firms have recently commented on KO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $72.06 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.27 and a 200 day moving average of $62.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $72.22.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola 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 sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total value of $1,224,645.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of Coca-Cola 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 owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,074,910 shares of company stock valued at $585,972,318. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 1.6% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 4.4% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Coca-Cola by 3.7% in the second quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 42,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,699,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.