Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Increases Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,903 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 543 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Main Street Research LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 5,173 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,389 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal acquired a new position in Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Marietta Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,679 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its position in Starbucks by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 136,852 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 14,092 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $107.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Starbucks news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at $7,912,906.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,665 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX opened at $85.42 on Wednesday. Starbucks Co. has a 52 week low of $84.29 and a 52 week high of $115.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 50.76%. The firm had revenue of $9.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Starbucks’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.96%.

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.