The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Short Interest Down 5.3% in December

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 32,920,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the December 15th total of 34,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 4.3% in the third quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.2% in the third quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.0% during the third quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 15,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler started coverage on Coca-Cola in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.13.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

KO stock opened at $62.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.45. The company has a market capitalization of $270.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $73.53. 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 issued its quarterly 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. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

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.