Brokerages Set Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Target Price at $103.77

Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $103.77.

SBUX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total transaction of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Starbucks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SBUX. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the second quarter worth $41,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Starbucks by 39.4% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ SBUX opened at $92.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $104.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks has a 12 month low of $71.55 and a 12 month high of $103.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $96.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.45.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Starbucks will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 73.72%.

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.