Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Shares Up 0.4% After Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) traded up 0.4% on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $73.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Coca-Cola traded as high as $70.03 and last traded at $69.81. 5,172,124 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 16,329,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.50.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $300.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.36.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.