UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Increases Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 384,906 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 16,032 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $35,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Starbucks by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,106,209 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $10,138,442,000 after acquiring an additional 784,432 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Starbucks by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after purchasing an additional 437,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,358,464,000 after purchasing an additional 333,004 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Starbucks by 55.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,476,967,000 after buying an additional 7,598,146 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $97.97 on Thursday. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The firm has a market cap of $111.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.47.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a net margin of 9.73% and a negative return on equity of 44.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.12.

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.