Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stake in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 96.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,901 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 947,982 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the second quarter valued at $1,246,316,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 146.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,049,192 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $553,201,000 after buying an additional 3,596,014 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Starbucks by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,757,954 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,169,011,000 after buying an additional 1,286,451 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Starbucks by 68.0% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,027,814 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $277,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 22.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,578,977 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $511,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,056 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price target on Starbucks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Starbucks from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.44.

Starbucks Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $86.17 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.54, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.98. Starbucks Corporation has a 52 week low of $75.50 and a 52 week high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.03). Starbucks had a net margin of 4.99% and a negative return on equity of 31.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 151.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 11,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $85.00 per share, with a total value of $994,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 53,096 shares in the company, valued at $4,513,160. The trade was a 28.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Profile

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.