Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Boosts Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 498,511 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $45,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBUX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Starbucks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX opened at $88.68 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.55 and a 52-week high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.71%.

Starbucks 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.