Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO)

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 72,457 put options on the company. This is an increase of 43% compared to the typical volume of 50,522 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% in the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.3% in the third quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the third quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 15,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. Barclays decreased their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $82.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler began coverage on Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE KO traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $62.27. 12,558,834 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,935,552. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.44. The firm has a market cap of $268.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

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.