Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 316 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,092 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $9,756,001,000 after buying an additional 387,632 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,388,924,000 after acquiring an additional 232,031 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,541,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $962,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,051 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,146,033 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $493,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591,206 shares during the period. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Starbucks by 2.8% in the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,956,442 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $452,374,000 after buying an additional 133,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

NASDAQ SBUX traded up $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $88.49. The stock had a trading volume of 14,368,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,439,514. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.98. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $84.29 and a one year high of $115.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.25.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.13). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 50.76% and a net margin of 11.70%. The business had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders 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 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 60.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Starbucks from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Starbucks from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, April 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total value of $277,517.50. Following the completion of 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 this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $651,738. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.