Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,293 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 807 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,684,470 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the 3rd quarter valued at $147,125,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Starbucks by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,146,033 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $493,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591,206 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Starbucks by 481.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $148,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,471 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,154,020 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price target 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Starbucks from $120.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.09.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In related news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total value of $277,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,933,582.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,250 shares of company stock worth $651,738. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX opened at $73.11 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.98. Starbucks Co. has a 12 month low of $72.67 and a 12 month high of $108.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 11.38% and a negative return on equity of 49.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.81%.

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.