Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Bought by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,553 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. State Street Corp raised its stake in Starbucks by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after buying an additional 437,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,358,464,000 after acquiring an additional 333,004 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,928,339,000 after purchasing an additional 7,015,375 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Starbucks by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,476,967,000 after purchasing an additional 7,598,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,146,744,000 after purchasing an additional 327,734 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wedbush raised their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.33.

Starbucks Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $112.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $127.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.07. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.55 and a 52-week high of $112.42.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is currently 78.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total transaction of $143,849.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. The trade was a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.