Verity & Verity LLC Boosts Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 119,488 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,666 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $10,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,649,493 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $206,279,000 after buying an additional 207,156 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its holdings in Starbucks by 13.7% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 2,704 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Starbucks by 4.1% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,848 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $77,916,000 after acquiring an additional 38,961 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 3.9% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 154,017 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $11,990,000 after acquiring an additional 5,715 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Starbucks by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 115,435 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $8,987,000 after purchasing an additional 9,753 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SBUX opened at $95.13 on Friday. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.55 and a 52-week high of $103.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.38. The company has a market capitalization of $107.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The company 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%. Starbucks’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wedbush dropped their target price on Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.92.

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.