Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock Price

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the coffee company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on SBUX. Baird R W upgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.77.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of SBUX opened at $101.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $103.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.50 and a 200 day moving average of $87.74.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Starbucks will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. This is a positive change from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,316,143. This represents a 1.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starbucks

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after purchasing an additional 437,218 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,358,464,000 after buying an additional 333,004 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,928,339,000 after buying an additional 7,015,375 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Starbucks by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,476,967,000 after buying an additional 7,598,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after acquiring an additional 327,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

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.