Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 3,348,427 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the previous session’s volume of 10,369,566 shares.The stock last traded at $78.87 and had previously closed at $79.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SBUX shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Starbucks from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Starbucks from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Starbucks from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.54.

Starbucks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $88.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.09.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Starbucks’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,431 shares in the company, valued at $5,234,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,933,582.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,750 shares of company stock worth $878,893. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starbucks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Orca Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 7,494 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 481.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $148,567,000 after buying an additional 1,281,471 shares during the last quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 45,322 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after buying an additional 13,372 shares during the last quarter. Summa Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,781,000. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

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.