Starbucks (SBUX: sentiment, chart, options) was cut from "buy" to "neutral" at Piper Jaffray today, and the brokerage firm also reduced its price target on the shares from $18 to $14. Apparently, the analysts are unimpressed with Starbucks' attempts to fight back against rising commodity costs and growing consumer apathy. In a note to clients, the firm noted, "While we credit management with further quantifying turnaround measures, we do not expect those strategies to have a meaningful impact in the short term."

After a difficult start to the session, SBUX is now hovering near breakeven. The stock is down 30% year-to-date, and is facing staunch overhead resistance from all of its 10-unit and 20-unit daily, weekly, and monthly moving averages.

The stock may be hovering near 5-year lows, but option traders refuse to abandon hope where SBUX is concerned. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio is 0.51, which reveals that calls nearly double puts among near-term options. Plus, the current SOIR ranks lower than all but 17% of other such readings taken during the past year. This heightened optimism, combined with the equity's underperformance, indicates that the shares could be vulnerable to further selling pressure.