CocaCola Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KO)

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 68,341 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average volume of 50,525 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KO. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CocaCola from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CocaCola from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.85.

CocaCola Stock Performance

Shares of KO traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.96. 26,953,453 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,586,277. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.36. CocaCola has a 12 month low of $62.35 and a 12 month high of $77.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other news, COO Henrique Braun sold 40,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $2,864,862.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,621 shares in the company, valued at $4,441,707.53. This trade represents a 39.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.17, for a total value of $2,250,751.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,894,396.10. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 211,704 shares of company stock valued at $15,005,595 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CocaCola

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in CocaCola by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 374,771,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,200,276,000 after purchasing an additional 5,886,352 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 165,858,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,083,296,000 after acquiring an additional 923,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,846,270,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 15.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,094,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,732,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,198 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of CocaCola by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,051,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,860,395,000 after acquiring an additional 770,235 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.