CocaCola (NYSE:KO) Price Target Raised to $79.00

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $75.00 to $79.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on KO. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CocaCola from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $76.00 target price on shares of CocaCola and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CocaCola from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.31.

CocaCola Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $69.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.21. CocaCola has a 52-week low of $60.62 and a 52-week high of $74.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.73. The stock has a market cap of $300.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.43.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CocaCola will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 67.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 37,396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total transaction of $2,584,063.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 209,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,477,348.30. The trade was a 15.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vicus Capital boosted its holdings in CocaCola by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in CocaCola by 1.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 15,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 32.5% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 91,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,068,000 after acquiring an additional 22,445 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in CocaCola by 1.1% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 474,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,642,000 after acquiring an additional 5,102 shares during the period. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CocaCola in the third quarter worth about $27,000. 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.