Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KO stock opened at $63.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $274.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.04 and a 200-day moving average of $61.08. Coca-Cola has a 12-month low of $51.55 and a 12-month high of $64.36.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.74% and a net margin of 23.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 57,298 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $3,551,903.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 167,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,358,962.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of Coca-Cola 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 sale, 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 have sold a total of 822,284 shares of company stock valued at $567,718,040 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KO. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth about $410,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 450,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,549,000 after buying an additional 89,139 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,738,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.