Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock Holdings Lowered by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,835 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Starbucks by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SBUX shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Starbucks from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.52.

Starbucks Trading Up 8.1 %

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $108.58 on Thursday. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $110.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.99.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total transaction of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.