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

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 91,479 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 68% compared to the average daily volume of 54,383 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,402,151,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,163,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,400,000 after buying an additional 11,569,920 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after buying an additional 11,206,995 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the fourth quarter worth $500,192,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,103,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,301,000 after buying an additional 6,118,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Coca-Cola Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of KO opened at $68.73 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $62.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.32.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current 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.