Barclays Raises Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $69.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Barclays from $68.00 to $69.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.90% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on KO. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.27.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE:KO traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $62.22. 6,307,373 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,990,373. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.04. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $64.25. The company has a market cap of $268.24 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $13,594,097.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 57,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $3,491,990.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,097.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 323,107 shares of company stock worth $19,657,742 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 0.6% in the first quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 30,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during 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.