Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $68.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $65.00 to $68.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on KO. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $70.20.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.5 %

Coca-Cola stock opened at $67.05 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.48 and its 200-day moving average is $61.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.08. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $67.11. The company has a market cap of $288.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.59.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 841,588 shares of company stock valued at $568,972,027. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,549,000 after acquiring an additional 89,139 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.