Investors Buy Large Volume of CocaCola Call Options (NYSE:KO)

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 64,672 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 24% compared to the typical volume of 51,994 call options.

CocaCola Price Performance

Shares of CocaCola stock traded up $2.32 on Wednesday, reaching $83.66. 11,434,509 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,804,494. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $78.30 and its 200-day moving average is $75.48. The firm has a market cap of $359.96 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. CocaCola has a one year low of $65.35 and a one year high of $83.85.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The firm had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CocaCola will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial set a $85.00 price objective on CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CocaCola from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.87.

Insider Activity

In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $18,074,096.90. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Jennifer K. Mann sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $7,946,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 207,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,480,004. This represents a 32.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 875,921 shares of company stock worth $69,831,810 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CocaCola by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 374,771,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,200,276,000 after buying an additional 5,886,352 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 167,850,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,734,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,992,327 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 89,984,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,273,037,000 after acquiring an additional 433,547 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at $3,865,807,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 44,018,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,347,642,000 after acquiring an additional 3,836,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America flagged Coca-Cola as a stock to watch into the 2026 World Cup, saying beverage volumes could rise as global event demand boosts consumption. The World Cup Is Here: Analyst Names One Beverage Stock To Watch
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Coca-Cola’s strong Q1 performance, including better-than-expected earnings, revenue growth, pricing power, and volume gains, reinforcing the view that KO can keep growing even in an inflationary environment. Coca-Cola’s Inflation Balancing Act: Price Increases vs. Volume
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles continue to frame KO as a Dividend King, noting its long streak of dividend increases and reliable income profile, which supports demand from dividend investors. 1 Plain-As-Day Dividend King to Buy and Never Sell That Has Increased Its Payout for 64 Consecutive Years
• Positive Sentiment: Coca-Cola’s launch of BodyArmor Fit shows it is expanding further into the “better-for-you” beverage category, which could open additional growth avenues beyond traditional soda. Coca-Cola launches BodyArmor Fit as it branches out in the ‘better-for-you’ category
• Neutral Sentiment: Chairman James Quincey and EVP Jennifer Mann disclosed share sales, but both were pre-arranged 10b5-1 transactions tied to tax withholding on equity awards, making them less alarming than discretionary insider selling.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.