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

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 91,479 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 68% compared to the average volume of 54,383 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.31.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE KO opened at $68.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $296.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.32. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 11.3% in the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.9% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 82,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,927,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% in the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 7,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.3% in the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 8,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 2,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.2% in the third quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 11,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.