Wells Fargo & Company Increases Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $78.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $73.00 to $78.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KO. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Cfra restated a hold rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $70.63 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.22. The stock has a market cap of $304.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.60%.

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 transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 38,653 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.01, for a total transaction of $2,667,443.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.