CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Stock Has Average Target Price of $95.95 According to Brokerages

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $96.27.

KO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $88.00) on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $83.00) on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, CICC Research boosted their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 111,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.93, for a total value of $10,126,419.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,761,319.45. This represents a 72.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 50,000 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total value of $4,519,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,186,798.70. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 926,620 shares of company stock valued at $83,075,714. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CocaCola

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 10,842.4% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,781,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,430,000 after purchasing an additional 4,738,144 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 9.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 44,018,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,347,642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836,640 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 1,763.2% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 3,383,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,201,742 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,053,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,361,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $197,470,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KFC switches from Pepsi to Coca-Cola: KFC will replace PepsiCo beverages with Coca-Cola products at its U.S. restaurants next year, ending a relationship that began in 1986. The high-profile contract should provide incremental fountain volume, strengthen Coca-Cola’s North American position and pressure PepsiCo. KFC to switch to Coca-Cola beverages in U.S. restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: UBS reaffirmed its Buy rating, while Jefferies maintained a Buy rating and Barclays reportedly raised its price target. Analysts view the KFC win as evidence of improving competitive momentum in North America. Jefferies maintains Coca-Cola Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Rotation into defensive stocks: Coca-Cola, Visa and Mastercard reached records as investors rotated away from chip and artificial-intelligence stocks. KO’s low-beta profile and dependable cash flows make it a potential beneficiary if technology-market volatility increases. Coca-Cola, Visa and Mastercard hit records
• Positive Sentiment: Strong brand and product execution: Coca-Cola Zero Sugar volume grew 16% in the second quarter, outpacing 5% growth for the broader Coca-Cola trademark. Localized pricing, marketing and product strategies are also supporting global consumer engagement. How Coca-Cola is using local execution to fuel global growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend remains a support: Coca-Cola declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, or $2.12 annualized, representing an indicated yield of about 2.3%. The payout reinforces KO’s income appeal, although the stock’s elevated valuation limits the margin of safety.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and growth questions: At roughly 28 times earnings, investors are paying a premium for a mature company. The Zero Sugar gains may partly reflect consumers switching among Coca-Cola products rather than creating entirely new demand, which could limit the long-term earnings benefit. Is Zero Sugar creating new demand or shifting existing sales?

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $93.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $403.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.39. CocaCola has a one year low of $67.27 and a one year high of $94.10.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.17 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 39.38% and a net margin of 28.56%. CocaCola’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CocaCola will post 3.30 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. CocaCola’s payout ratio is presently 63.66%.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1886, it is best known for Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most recognized soft drink brands.

The company owns, licenses, and markets a broad portfolio of beverages, including sparkling soft drinks, water, sports drinks, coffee, tea, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages, and energy drinks. Its brands include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Dasani, smartwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, fairlife, and Costa Coffee, among others.

The Coca-Cola Company serves consumers in more than 200 countries and territories through a system that includes company-operated operations, independent bottling partners, distributors, retailers, and food-service providers.