LVW Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

LVW Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,497 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Starbucks during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 39.4% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wedbush dropped their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.92.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $95.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $107.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $103.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.71.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.