Barclays Cuts Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $66.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $73.00 to $66.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on KO. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.13.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $62.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $62.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.43.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction 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 owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. FMR LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609,565 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.