Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has $70.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $68.00.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Cfra restated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.50.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE KO opened at $63.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $271.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Coca-Cola has a twelve month low of $57.47 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.41 and its 200 day moving average is $66.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.4% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,027,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,689,000 after acquiring an additional 174,948 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.6% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 9,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 1,227 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the third quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 19,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 13.1% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at $669,000. Hedge funds and other 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.