The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.50.

Several analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $62.26 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.58 and a 200-day moving average of $66.56. Coca-Cola has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $268.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value 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. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KO. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.