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

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $73.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 8.64% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO opened at $71.80 on Monday. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $51.55 and a one year high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,398,603.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $1,274,333.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,398,603.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 42,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $2,968,637.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group grew its position in Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 21,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. American Trust grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 15,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,611,000. Finally, Brightwater Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at about $367,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.