Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Upgraded at DZ Bank

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) was upgraded by equities researchers at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $75.00 price target on the stock. DZ Bank’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.12% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on KO. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.41.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $68.73 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.32. Coca-Cola has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,118,819 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.