Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) PT Raised to $70.00 at Truist Financial

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price objective boosted by Truist Financial from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on KO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an outperform rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $70.25.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $66.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.63 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.59. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $66.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.44.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $561,812.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,621.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,962.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $561,812.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 841,588 shares of company stock worth $568,972,027. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth about $2,808,056,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $894,028,000 after purchasing an additional 814,779 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,866,000 after purchasing an additional 378,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,804,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,500 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.