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

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 121,967 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 122% compared to the typical daily volume of 55,039 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBUX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Starbucks from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,747.36. The trade was a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Starbucks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 55,793 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $5,439,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Weil Company Inc. raised its stake in Starbucks by 31.2% during the third quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 34,580 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 8,222 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Maia Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 69.1% during the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 18,582 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 7,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 37,584 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $3,664,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Starbucks stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.00. 9,182,453 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,946,240. Starbucks has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $113.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.49.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starbucks will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 78.71%.

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.