The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Short Interest Update

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 33,080,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the July 15th total of 31,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on KO. Truist Financial upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Coca-Cola news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total transaction of $3,981,938.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,074,330.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 58,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.51, for a total transaction of $3,981,938.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,074,330.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cola Co Coca sold 598,619 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $925.00, for a total value of $553,722,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,883,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,280,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 871,162 shares of company stock worth $571,697,887 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,297,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,016,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,733,326 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,808,056,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,701,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,463,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,475 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,171,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $894,028,000 after purchasing an additional 814,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,337,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,866,000 after acquiring an additional 378,447 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $0.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.18. 12,651,230 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,051,887. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $51.55 and a fifty-two week high of $69.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $298.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.38.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 77.60%.

About Coca-Cola

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.