The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Short Interest Update

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,590,000 shares, a drop of 11.6% from the January 15th total of 33,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,104,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,770,000 after purchasing an additional 23,208 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 413,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,756,000 after purchasing an additional 56,037 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,496,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 109.4% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 531,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,075,000 after purchasing an additional 277,504 shares during the period. Finally, Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 107,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,705,000 after buying an additional 6,083 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE:KO traded down $0.65 on Monday, reaching $68.85. 20,769,370 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,089,333. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.36. Coca-Cola has a 12 month low of $57.93 and a 12 month high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $296.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

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

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.