Coca-Cola Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KO)

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 76,303 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 47% compared to the typical daily volume of 51,905 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,206,995 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,271,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,996 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $269,382,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $6,664,005,000 after buying an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter valued at $188,448,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.36.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.43. 13,217,768 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,563,657. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $57.47 and a one year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Coca-Cola’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

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.