Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Upgraded at TD Cowen

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) was upgraded by research analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $75.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 23.56% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on KO. Barclays reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE KO opened at $60.70 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.15 and its 200-day moving average is $66.55. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $261.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 7,006.8% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,478,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443,612 shares in the last quarter. 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.