MCF Advisors LLC Acquires 307 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,839 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 73.1% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 43,633 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 18,420 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 10.2% in the second quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,765 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 59.9% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 216,867 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $16,883,000 after purchasing an additional 81,233 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.0% in the second quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 38,452 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.7% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 42,650 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $97.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $110.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.00.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. Starbucks’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SBUX. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.92.

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.