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

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.81.

Several brokerages have commented on KO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra Research raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total transaction of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 187,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $19,197,000.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,884,668.76. This represents a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 440,664 shares of company stock valued at $31,730,532. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KO. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 360.0% in the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of KO opened at $71.37 on Friday. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $60.62 and a one year high of $74.38. The company has a market cap of $307.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 81.60%.

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.