Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,713 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 55,793 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $5,439,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 34,580 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after buying an additional 8,222 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 69.1% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 18,582 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 7,596 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 48.5% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 30,422 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,966,000 after acquiring an additional 9,936 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 48.6% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 37,584 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $3,664,000 after acquiring an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. This trade represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Starbucks Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of SBUX opened at $93.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $105.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.34. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The business had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SBUX. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.77.

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.