Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.71% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on KO. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.73.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3 %

KO opened at $71.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $71.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.08 and its 200 day moving average is $62.89.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total value of $5,042,744.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,056,426 shares of company stock worth $584,650,712. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth $1,474,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Coca-Cola by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 12,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 56,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 10,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.