Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Coca-Cola Call Options (NYSE:KO)

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 76,303 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 47% compared to the typical daily volume of 51,905 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,565 shares during the period. Decatur Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth $3,395,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 222.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 192,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,814,000 after buying an additional 132,701 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Coca-Cola during the third quarter valued at about $349,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 42.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,928,000 after acquiring an additional 16,343 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $64.43 on Thursday. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $57.47 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.57.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KO shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.36.

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.