Argus Increases Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Price Target to $72.00

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Argus from $70.00 to $72.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Argus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 15.94% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on KO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.58.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $62.10 on Wednesday. Coca-Cola has a 52 week low of $51.55 and a 52 week high of $63.76. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.84. The company has a market cap of $267.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 8,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $561,812.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,621.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 199,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,322,179 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $2,808,056,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 11,138.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933,527 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,342,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,032,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.