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

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KO. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $68.85 on Wednesday. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $62.90 and its 200 day moving average is $66.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $3,402,151,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,802,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,131,000 after buying an additional 3,811,756 shares during the period. 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.