The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,660,000 shares, an increase of 9.2% from the October 31st total of 30,820,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,961,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,680,205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,206,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,957,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,664,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,964 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Coca-Cola by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,463,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,475 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 14.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,615,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,885,000 after buying an additional 4,013,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,984,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,407,000 after buying an additional 1,609,565 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cfra reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.14.

Coca-Cola Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE KO traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.53. 24,870,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,602,822. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $57.47 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.61. The company has a market capitalization of $273.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

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

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.