Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock Price Down 0.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) dropped 0.7% during trading on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $85.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Starbucks traded as low as $72.13 and last traded at $72.36. Approximately 6,086,727 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 9,528,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.90.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays cut 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. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.43.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In other news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,250 shares of company stock worth $651,738. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 107,933,270 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $10,362,673,000 after buying an additional 1,041,622 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,388,924,000 after purchasing an additional 232,031 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth $1,240,652,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,367,331 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,091,378,000 after purchasing an additional 268,030 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 11.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,541,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $962,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,051 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starbucks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $81.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.69.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 EPS 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 business had revenue of $8.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.