Analysts Set The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Target Price at $72.14

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.14.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KO. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KO. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 12,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.3% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 417,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,552,000 after acquiring an additional 32,047 shares during the last quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 26,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 11,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 9,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $62.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a 52 week low of $57.47 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.