Investors Purchase High Volume of Starbucks Call Options (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 93,303 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the average daily volume of 65,074 call options.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $72.90. The company had a trading volume of 18,601,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,574,881. Starbucks has a twelve month low of $72.67 and a twelve month high of $108.12. The company has a market capitalization of $82.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $88.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.69.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.11). Starbucks had a net margin of 11.38% and a negative return on equity of 49.91%. The company had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. Starbucks's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Starbucks will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. DZ Bank downgraded Starbucks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Starbucks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total value of $277,517.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,199 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,250 shares of company stock worth $651,738. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 107,933,270 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $10,362,673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,622 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $1,388,924,000 after purchasing an additional 232,031 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Starbucks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,240,652,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,367,331 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $1,091,378,000 after buying an additional 268,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,541,739 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $962,144,000 after buying an additional 1,115,051 shares during the last quarter. 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.