BNP Paribas Reiterates Outperform Rating for CocaCola (NYSE:KO)

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by research analysts at BNP Paribas in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $83.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.36% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Cfra Research upgraded CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Monday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.13.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.4%

KO stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Monday, hitting $70.12. 5,988,406 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,381,275. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. CocaCola has a 1 year low of $60.62 and a 1 year high of $74.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.71 and a 200-day moving average of $69.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.10.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. CocaCola's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CocaCola will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This trade represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 266,403 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $19,197,000.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,884,668.76. The trade was a 49.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CocaCola

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,200,808 shares of the company's stock worth $25,869,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,422 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the fourth quarter worth about $3,402,151,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 52.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,447,430 shares of the company's stock worth $3,398,185,000 after purchasing an additional 16,383,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company's stock worth $2,123,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,819 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CocaCola

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.

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