Wells Fargo & Company Increases Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $78.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $73.00 to $78.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on KO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $71.07.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE KO opened at $70.63 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.22. The company has a market capitalization of $304.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $51.55 and a 1 year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,883,546 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,280,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 37,787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.96, for a total transaction of $2,530,217.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $14,954,176.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently 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.