Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Given “Neutral” Rating at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their neutral rating on shares of Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $81.00 price target on the coffee company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SBUX. DZ Bank cut shares of Starbucks from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Starbucks from $120.00 to $92.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. TD Cowen reissued a hold rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $94.54.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $77.13 on Friday. Starbucks has a 1 year low of $71.80 and a 1 year high of $107.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.95. The company has a market capitalization of $87.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.94.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 11.38% and a negative return on equity of 49.91%. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Starbucks will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 62.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In related news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total transaction 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 approximately $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,234,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 81,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,933,582.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,750 shares of company stock worth $878,893. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starbucks

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 690,094 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $53,724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,847 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Starbucks by 73.0% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 11,298 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 4,768 shares during the period. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 12.8% during the first quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,523,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 432,452 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $39,660,000 after buying an additional 38,285 shares during the last quarter. 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.