Perpetual Ltd Trims Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Perpetual Ltd lowered its holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 43.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,178 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 6,394 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Starbucks by 1.0% during 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 raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,358,464,000 after buying an additional 333,004 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,015,375 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Starbucks by 100.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,476,967,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Starbucks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after purchasing an additional 327,734 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Starbucks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.92.

Starbucks Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $97.73 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.00. The stock has a market cap of $110.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a 12 month low of $71.55 and a 12 month high of $103.32.

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

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 73.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.