Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock Position Lifted by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC boosted its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,907 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $6,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SBUX. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 16,534 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Starbucks by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,512 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new position in Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in Starbucks by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 6,916 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its position in Starbucks by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 37,660 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $3,437,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBUX has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $76.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.92.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $95.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $107.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.50. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $71.55 and a one year high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The business had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current 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 issued 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 2.56%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.