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

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 76,303 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 47% compared to the average daily volume of 51,905 call options.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at about $18,383,000. Balentine LLC grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 92.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 28,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 116,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,351,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 850,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,122,000 after buying an additional 46,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Coca-Cola by 4.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 457,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after buying an additional 21,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Coca-Cola stock opened at $64.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.22 and its 200 day moving average is $66.56. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $57.47 and a one year high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap 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 current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. Coca-Cola’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of 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, Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola presently 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.