Short Interest in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Drops By 6.1%

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,870,000 shares, a decrease of 6.1% from the September 30th total of 33,950,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 14,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 223,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,095. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 102,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $7,179,360.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 442,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,987,070.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 18,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $1,321,606.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,095. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 319,005 shares of company stock worth $22,198,147. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Baugh & Associates LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 11.5% during the third quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 4,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the third quarter valued at approximately $769,000. Graypoint LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 5.2% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 36,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the third quarter worth approximately $270,000. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 55.5% in the third quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KO. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.80.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.3 %

KO stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $65.71. The stock had a trading volume of 3,504,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,213,984. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.22. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $56.06 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The firm has a market cap of $283.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s 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.