The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Short Interest Up 44.9% in February

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,890,000 shares, an increase of 44.9% from the January 31st total of 29,590,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 17,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on KO. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Coca-Cola Stock Down 3.1 %

KO stock opened at $70.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.87 and a 200-day moving average of $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. Coca-Cola has a one year low of $57.93 and a one year high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other news, insider Nikolaos Koumettis sold 54,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.96, for a total transaction of $3,882,079.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 246,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,520,662.64. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 232,646 shares of company stock valued at $16,515,469. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,716,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 15.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 40,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 5,403 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 0.6% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 35,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% in the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 61,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,389,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.