LPL Financial LLC Buys 147,944 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,096,630 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,944 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Starbucks worth $191,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banco de Sabadell S.A boosted its stake in Starbucks by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 20,829 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,878,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,873,000. Umpqua Bank acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,000. Finally, Plancorp LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Starbucks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.12.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $97.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $110.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.41. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.