Wells Fargo & Company Increases Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Price Target to $115.00

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) had its target price hoisted 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.

SBUX has been the topic of several other research reports. DZ Bank downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded Starbucks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.77.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX opened at $102.46 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.93. Starbucks has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,124 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 36,242 shares in the company, valued at $3,316,143. This trade 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starbucks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 437,218 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 333,004 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,928,339,000 after buying an additional 7,015,375 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% during the third 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 increased its stake 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 worth $1,146,744,000 after buying an additional 327,734 shares during the period. 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.