Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price objective lifted by Evercore ISI from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.31.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO opened at $68.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.32. Coca-Cola has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53.

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

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.