Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 199 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,400 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its stake in Starbucks by 8,677.8% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,715,405 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $260,706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684,470 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at approximately $147,125,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Starbucks by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,146,033 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $493,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591,206 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 481.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $148,567,000 after buying an additional 1,281,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 32.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,679,621 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $427,109,000 after buying an additional 1,154,020 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBUX has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Starbucks from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BTIG Research cut their target price on Starbucks from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush cut their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Starbucks from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.55.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In related news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 7,250 shares of company stock worth $651,738 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.5 %

Starbucks stock opened at $88.25 on Friday. Starbucks Co. has a 52 week low of $84.29 and a 52 week high of $115.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.27. The stock has a market cap of $99.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 50.76% and a net margin of 11.70%. The firm had revenue of $9.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Starbucks’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.96%.

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.