Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 1,189 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 5.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,428 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 1,189 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 1,466.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,350,932 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $260,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,136,992 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the second quarter worth $243,910,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 1st quarter worth $257,721,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Starbucks by 108.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,475,156 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $348,391,000 after buying an additional 2,324,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Starbucks by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,553,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $196,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 380 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,316,143. The trade was a 1.06 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Baird R W raised Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.81.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX stock opened at $99.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.79. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $104.68.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 73.72%.

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.