Barr E S & Co. Sells 3,331 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Barr E S & Co. lessened its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,320 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 3,331 shares during the period. Barr E S & Co.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 11,312 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC raised its holdings in Starbucks by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its position in Starbucks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 4,240 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 21,895 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SBUX shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Starbucks from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.68.

Starbucks Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $85.43 on Friday. Starbucks Co. has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $117.46. The company has a market cap of $97.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $102.16 and its 200 day moving average is $98.78.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.71%.

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.