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

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

KO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.31.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $68.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.32. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at about $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.