Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stake Trimmed by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC cut its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,398 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 16,587 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $5,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,106,209 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $10,138,442,000 after acquiring an additional 784,432 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Starbucks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,826,001 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,259,516,000 after purchasing an additional 548,245 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,868,817 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,448,030,000 after purchasing an additional 718,880 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter worth $1,244,812,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,916,777 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,087,406,000 after buying an additional 154,093 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Starbucks Stock Down 7.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $82.10 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.38. The company has a market cap of $93.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. Starbucks Co. has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.71%.

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.