UBS Group Lowers Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $72.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target decreased by UBS Group from $82.00 to $72.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $62.27 on Thursday. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53. 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 cap of $268.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.44.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Coca-Cola by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.