Investors Purchase High Volume of CocaCola Call Options (NYSE:KO)

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 94,563 call options on the company. This is an increase of 72% compared to the average daily volume of 54,876 call options.

Insider Transactions at CocaCola

In other CocaCola news, EVP Manuel Arroyo sold 139,689 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.80, for a total transaction of $9,889,981.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,067 shares in the company, valued at $4,111,143.60. This represents a 70.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 13,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.93, for a total transaction of $947,411.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,638,109.25. The trade was a 26.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 225,252 shares of company stock worth $15,953,007. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CocaCola

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in CocaCola by 5,142.9% during the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 367 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in CocaCola in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on KO shares. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CocaCola from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CocaCola from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.43.

CocaCola Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.13 on Friday, hitting $73.01. 4,191,637 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,755,254. CocaCola has a 1-year low of $60.62 and a 1-year high of $74.38. The company has a market capitalization of $314.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.90 and its 200 day moving average is $69.53.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter. CocaCola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 27.34%. Sell-side analysts predict that CocaCola will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.55%.

About CocaCola

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.