Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by Hsbc Global Res

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Hsbc Global Res to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on KO. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.1 %

KO stock opened at $71.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.85. Coca-Cola has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The company has a market capitalization of $309.57 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly 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. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total transaction of $553,722,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the second quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.