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

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 75,333 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 46% compared to the average volume of 51,548 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $88.00 price target on CocaCola in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a report on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $83.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.81.

Key Headlines Impacting CocaCola

Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Heavy call-option activity suggests traders are positioning for a rebound or expecting volatility around the stock. Traders bought 75,333 call options, well above the recent average. Quiver Quant article on Coca-Cola options activity and cyberattack
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage noted KO benefiting from its defensive profile as investors look for more stable dividend names ahead of earnings, which may be helping support interest in the stock despite the cybersecurity issue. Benzinga article on Coca-Cola stock movement
• Neutral Sentiment: Coca-Cola also announced a quarterly dividend, reinforcing its appeal as a high-quality income stock, though this is unlikely to be the main driver of today’s trading.
• Negative Sentiment: The fairlife cyberattack is the key negative catalyst, since it hit a growth brand and temporarily suspended U.S. production, raising fears of lost revenue and added recovery costs. Reuters article on fairlife production halt

CocaCola Stock Performance

CocaCola stock opened at $81.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.25 and its 200-day moving average is $77.63. The company has a market cap of $350.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. CocaCola has a 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $85.68.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that CocaCola will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CocaCola news, EVP Jennifer K. Mann sold 23,984 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,000,505.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 157,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,128,734. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CocaCola

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 438.8% during the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 1,081.8% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

About CocaCola

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.