Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO)

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 85,190 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 29% compared to the average daily volume of 66,163 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,334. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469 in the last three months. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 40,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,526,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $558,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $295,000. TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter worth about $253,000. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $72.10. The stock had a trading volume of 14,913,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,944,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.19, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.56.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.24.

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.