Short Interest in The Vita Coco Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COCO) Drops By 11.9%

The Vita Coco Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COCO) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a decline of 11.9% from the January 31st total of 5,370,000 shares. Currently, 12.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 529,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Martin F. Roper sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total transaction of $182,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 357,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,046,762.56. This represents a 1.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ira Liran sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.58, for a total value of $1,067,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 853,729 shares in the company, valued at $30,375,677.82. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,632 shares of company stock worth $3,605,468 over the last quarter. 34.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Vita Coco by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,828,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,414,000 after purchasing an additional 427,871 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vita Coco by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,589,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,565,000 after purchasing an additional 11,712 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Vita Coco by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,502,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,460,000 after purchasing an additional 185,692 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Vita Coco by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,421,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,486,000 after purchasing an additional 193,420 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vita Coco by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,130,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,713,000 after purchasing an additional 64,011 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.49% of the company’s stock.

Vita Coco Stock Up 5.3 %

COCO opened at $33.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.30 and a 200-day moving average of $32.96. Vita Coco has a 52 week low of $23.00 and a 52 week high of $40.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Vita Coco from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens lowered Vita Coco from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Vita Coco from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Vita Coco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.14.

Vita Coco Company Profile

The Vita Coco Company, Inc develops, markets, and distributes coconut water products under the Vita Coco brand name in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers coconut oil and coconut milk; juice; Runa, a plant-based energy drink; packaged water under the Ever & Ever brand name; and PWR LIFT, a protein-infused fitness drink.