Morgan Stanley Raises Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $78.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

KO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an outperform rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $70.73.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $72.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.27 and a 200 day moving average of $62.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. Coca-Cola has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $72.22.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,074,910 shares of company stock valued at $585,972,318 over the last 90 days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $1,474,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 12,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 56,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 10,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

About Coca-Cola

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.