Sawyer & Company Inc Lowers Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Sawyer & Company Inc lowered its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,930 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 945 shares during the quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Starbucks in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.77.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. The trade was a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.0 %

SBUX opened at $93.08 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $105.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.34. Starbucks Co. has a 52 week low of $71.55 and a 52 week high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

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.