Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC Lowers Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,152 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,476,967,000 after buying an additional 7,598,146 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,928,339,000 after buying an additional 7,015,375 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 1,491.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,808,571 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $256,282,000 after buying an additional 2,632,087 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 1,078.5% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,545,419 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $248,153,000 after buying an additional 2,329,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Starbucks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $126,574,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $97.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $111.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.04. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The business had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. The trade was a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Starbucks 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.