Brokerages Set CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) PT at $79.08

Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.0769.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CocaCola from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Henrique Braun sold 40,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $2,864,862.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,621 shares in the company, valued at $4,441,707.53. The trade was a 39.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Max R. Levchin acquired 7,206 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $69.87 per share, for a total transaction of $503,483.22. Following the purchase, the director owned 14,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,835.29. The trade was a 102.05% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 225,252 shares of company stock worth $15,953,007. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in CocaCola by 239.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 45,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,046,000 after buying an additional 32,419 shares in the last quarter. Farmers National Bank lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 72,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,798,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 147.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 70,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,647,000 after purchasing an additional 41,748 shares in the last quarter. Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the third quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Finally, Severin Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 4.4% in the third quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 9,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $70.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.39. CocaCola has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%. Analysts expect that CocaCola will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.55%.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.