BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock Price

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the coffee company’s stock.

SBUX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.52.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ SBUX opened at $108.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $123.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.89. Starbucks has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $110.08.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Starbucks will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Starbucks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Starbucks by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $4,482,045,000 after acquiring an additional 437,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,928,339,000 after purchasing an additional 7,015,375 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,598,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Starbucks by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after buying an additional 327,734 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.