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

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 75,333 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 46% compared to the typical daily volume of 51,548 call options.

Key CocaCola News

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity pointed to bullish interest, with investors buying 75,333 call options on KO, about 46% above normal daily volume. Unusual options trading in Coca-Cola
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary noted KO was still drawing support as a defensive stock, with traders looking ahead to the July 28 earnings release and recent analyst optimism. Coca-Cola stock commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: Coca-Cola also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, reinforcing its appeal as an income stock, though this is not likely the main driver of the move.
• Negative Sentiment: Fairlife’s U.S. production halt after the cyberattack is the key negative catalyst, since the brand is a growth engine for Coca-Cola and the disruption could weigh on near-term results and investor sentiment. Reuters report on fairlife cyberattack
• Negative Sentiment: Media coverage framed the event as part of a broader rise in cyber incidents, increasing concern that recovery could take time and create additional operational uncertainty for KO. Cyber incident coverage

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CocaCola news, EVP Jennifer K. Mann sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $7,946,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 181,384 shares in the company, valued at $14,412,772.64. The trade was a 35.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total transaction of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,074,096.90. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock valued at $71,832,315. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CocaCola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alken Asset Management Ltd increased its position in CocaCola by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alken Asset Management Ltd now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 140,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,400,000 after buying an additional 4,552 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of CocaCola by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in CocaCola by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in CocaCola by 9.0% during the second quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CocaCola from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on CocaCola from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.81.

CocaCola Stock Performance

CocaCola stock traded down $3.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.50. 32,877,583 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,464,295. CocaCola has a 1 year low of $65.35 and a 1 year high of $85.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $350.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.60.

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

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

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.