Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Sold by River Street Advisors LLC

River Street Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,959 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,476,967,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598,146 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1,491.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,808,571 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $256,282,000 after buying an additional 2,632,087 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 1,078.5% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,545,419 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $248,153,000 after buying an additional 2,329,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at approximately $126,574,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.33.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $107.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $122.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.48. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $110.34.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a net margin of 9.73% and a negative return on equity of 44.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Starbucks Profile

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.