UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) had its price target lowered by UBS Group from $82.00 to $72.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

KO has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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 upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report 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 raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.13.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $62.76 on Thursday. 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 $270.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.69 and a 200 day moving average of $66.40. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.