Starbucks Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 40,915 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 59% compared to the average volume of 25,712 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.99, for a total value of $236,251.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,963,558.65. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,687 shares of company stock valued at $681,663. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Starbucks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks in the second quarter valued at $41,598,000. Invst LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the second quarter valued at $1,058,000. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 2nd quarter worth about $119,000. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,084,000. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Starbucks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ SBUX traded down $0.86 on Friday, hitting $107.69. 3,499,088 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,870,474. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $103.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.97. Starbucks has a fifty-two week low of $77.99 and a fifty-two week high of $110.51. The firm has a market cap of $122.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $9.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.17 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 34.10% and a net margin of 5.17%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.550-2.650 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Starbucks will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 142.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SBUX. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on Starbucks in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.92.

Starbucks Company Profile

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.