Cetera Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 196.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198,886 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,736 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $18,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Orca Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 7,494 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Starbucks by 481.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $148,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,471 shares in the last quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC raised its stake in Starbucks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 45,322 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after purchasing an additional 13,372 shares in the last quarter. Summa Corp. purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,781,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $260,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,264,320. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,431 shares in the company, valued at $5,234,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $260,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,264,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,250 shares of company stock worth $579,375 in the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Starbucks from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.88.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Starbucks stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,185,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,858,536. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.62 and a 200-day moving average of $84.66. The stock has a market cap of $85.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.94. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $71.55 and a one year high of $107.66.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The coffee company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 49.38% and a net margin of 11.16%. The business had revenue of $9.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.81%.

About Starbucks

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.