Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 70,045 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 1,225 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $6,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 437,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,928,339,000 after acquiring an additional 7,015,375 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,476,967,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after acquiring an additional 327,734 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. This trade represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Starbucks Stock Down 0.4 %

SBUX opened at $111.03 on Wednesday. Starbucks Co. has a 52 week low of $71.55 and a 52 week high of $112.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.10. The firm has a market cap of $126.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 2.20%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Starbucks from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.33.

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.