The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,390,000 shares, a decline of 7.9% from the May 15th total of 31,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 12,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total transaction of $1,224,645.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 80,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.34, for a total transaction of $5,042,744.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 218,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,644,979.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 19,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.44, for a total transaction of $1,224,645.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,055.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,665 shares of company stock valued at $13,995,465 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Coca-Cola by 2.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 80,448,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950,146 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Coca-Cola by 21.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at $2,808,056,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,913,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Coca-Cola by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,028,000 after purchasing an additional 814,779 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE KO traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $62.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,651,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,051,211. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.98 and a 200 day moving average of $60.53. Coca-Cola has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 42.74%. The business had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Coca-Cola’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 77.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.55.

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.