MWA Asset Management Sells 394 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

MWA Asset Management trimmed its holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 9.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,675 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 394 shares during the quarter. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SBUX. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 9.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,389 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 12,394 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Starbucks by 88.2% in the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 47.6% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,765 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SBUX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $76.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Starbucks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,316,143. This represents a 1.06 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $98.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $111.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $97.01 and its 200-day moving average is $86.62. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $71.55 and a one year high of $105.47.

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. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. 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 business posted $1.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is an increase from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.72%.

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.