Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Trading Down 1.6% Following Analyst Downgrade

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)’s share price fell 1.6% during trading on Friday after HSBC lowered their price target on the stock from $107.00 to $84.00. HSBC currently has a hold rating on the stock. Starbucks traded as low as $73.74 and last traded at $73.75. 5,875,128 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 9,268,319 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.93.

SBUX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. DZ Bank cut Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Starbucks from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, April 19th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.38.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total value of $277,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,199 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $651,738 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Starbucks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 1,578.9% during the 3rd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 319 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $82.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.98.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.11). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 49.91% and a net margin of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is currently 62.81%.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a roaster, marketer, and retailer of coffee worldwide. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Channel Development. Its stores offer coffee and tea beverages, roasted whole beans and ground coffees, single serve products, and ready-to-drink beverages; and various food products, such as pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and lunch items.