Coca-Cola Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:KO)

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 137,960 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 211% compared to the average daily volume of 44,414 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.73.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of KO opened at $71.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $307.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.90. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $30,987,070.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $7,179,360.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $1,253,987.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,507,516.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 974,715 shares of company stock worth $579,704,927 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its position in Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 21,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. American Trust increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 15,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth approximately $3,611,000. Finally, Brightwater Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter worth approximately $367,000. 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.