Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Sells 178 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lessened its holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,827 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Starbucks by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after buying an additional 437,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,358,464,000 after acquiring an additional 333,004 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,476,967,000 after purchasing an additional 7,598,146 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after purchasing an additional 327,734 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BTIG Research raised their target price on Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $76.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.77.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $92.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $71.55 and a one year high of $103.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.88.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.72%.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Starbucks Company 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.