Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 444,256 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 26,834 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $37,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Starbucks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,170 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 3,749 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 8,293 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1.9% during the second quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 6,132 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 2.4% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,288 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on SBUX shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Starbucks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.04.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $86.69 on Thursday. Starbucks Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.50 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The stock has a market cap of $98.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.87 and a 200 day moving average of $87.15.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.03). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 4.99%.The business had revenue of $9.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Starbucks’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 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 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 151.22%.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In related news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 11,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.00 per share, with a total value of $994,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 53,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,513,160. The trade was a 28.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Company 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.