Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,750 shares of the coffee company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $9,756,001,000 after purchasing an additional 387,632 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,388,924,000 after acquiring an additional 232,031 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,367,331 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,091,378,000 after acquiring an additional 268,030 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,541,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $962,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,051 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Starbucks by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,027,953 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $948,093,000 after purchasing an additional 27,496 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBUX has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Starbucks from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Starbucks from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX stock traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $73.50. The stock had a trading volume of 23,955,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,875,520. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.53. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.80 and a fifty-two week high of $108.11.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 11.38% and a negative return on equity of 49.91%. Starbucks’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 62.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total value of $305,597.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $651,738 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Starbucks Company 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.