Range Financial Group LLC Purchases 1,680 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Range Financial Group LLC raised its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 37.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,143 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the quarter. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,544 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Starbucks by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,679 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 7,929 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,888 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,371 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBUX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Starbucks in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.77.

Starbucks Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of SBUX traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $92.84. 6,635,182 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,173,007. The company has a market cap of $105.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $96.55 and its 200 day moving average is $90.77. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.