Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO)

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 53,679 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 30% compared to the average daily volume of 41,220 put options.

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 156,290 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total value of $9,705,609.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 228,830 shares in the company, valued at $14,210,343. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 50,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.66, for a total value of $3,133,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 143,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,984,378.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 156,290 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total transaction of $9,705,609.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 228,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,210,343. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 227,364 shares of company stock worth $14,122,016. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 103,297.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 57,734,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,672,479,000 after purchasing an additional 57,678,466 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,937,315,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Coca-Cola by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 79,101,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,031,669,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722,435 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Coca-Cola by 164.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,430,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,979,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $429,854,000. 68.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $77.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.33.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE KO traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $58.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,742,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,120,422. The stock has a market cap of $252.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.55. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $54.01 and a fifty-two week high of $64.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.74 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.81% and a return on equity of 43.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is currently 75.72%.

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.