Investors Purchase Large Volume of Starbucks Call Options (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 29,827 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 21,278 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SBUX shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Starbucks from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of Starbucks from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.83.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $58,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 70,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,092,000. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,458 shares of company stock valued at $449,684. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starbucks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Starbucks during the second quarter worth $8,504,509,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the second quarter worth $1,581,287,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Starbucks in the second quarter valued at $779,790,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Starbucks in the second quarter valued at $649,622,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Starbucks in the second quarter valued at $289,019,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starbucks Stock Up 3.8%

Starbucks stock traded up $3.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $109.37. 1,953,636 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,149,789. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.05. Starbucks has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $111.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.69 billion, a PE ratio of 49.50, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.01.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.08. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 6.66%. The company had revenue of $9.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Starbucks will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This is an increase from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.03%.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffee company that roasts, markets and sells coffee and other beverages, along with food and related merchandise. Its offerings include brewed coffee, espresso-based drinks, teas and packaged coffee products.

The company serves customers through company-operated and licensed stores, as well as through retail and food-service partnerships. Its stores also sell items such as mugs and coffee-making equipment.

Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks operates in North America and international markets, including China.