Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Trading 0.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) rose 0.4% during trading 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. Approximately 5,172,124 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 16,329,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.50.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Bienville Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Bienville Capital Management LLC now owns 10,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 1,955 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 21,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after buying an additional 3,842 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 99,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,222,000 after buying an additional 6,129 shares during the last quarter. Pennington Partners & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $359,000. Finally, Hutner Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 147,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,200,000 after buying an additional 19,755 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.90 and its 200 day moving average is $66.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earnings per share for the current 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.