Starbucks Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 93,303 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 43% compared to the typical volume of 65,074 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Gordon Haskett downgraded Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $72.85. The company had a trading volume of 14,210,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,520,849. Starbucks has a 12 month low of $72.67 and a 12 month high of $108.12. The company has a market capitalization of $82.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.89 and a 200 day moving average of $93.84.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.11). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 49.91% and a net margin of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $8.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Starbucks will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 62.81%.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 20.1% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 60,025 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $5,486,000 after buying an additional 10,048 shares during the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 106.7% in the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 5,612,687 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $512,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,897,282 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 178.3% in the first quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 5,909 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 3,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Starbucks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,757 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starbucks Company Profile

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.