Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $70.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on KO. Barclays decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $61.73 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.99 and a 200-day moving average of $66.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $265.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $18,383,000. Balentine LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 104.9% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,351,000 after acquiring an additional 59,503 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 5.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,122,000 after acquiring an additional 46,541 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after acquiring an additional 21,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.