Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,334 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 932 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $3,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at $1,222,931,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 115,334.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,493,639 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $842,569,000 after acquiring an additional 8,486,281 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Starbucks by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,718,368 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,650,462,000 after purchasing an additional 8,451,599 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 8,677.8% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,715,405 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $260,706,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks in the first quarter valued at approximately $190,270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays cut their price target on Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Starbucks from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Starbucks from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.43.

Starbucks Trading Up 1.6 %

SBUX stock traded up $1.36 on Thursday, hitting $87.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,774,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,354,843. The stock has a market cap of $99.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.47. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $84.29 and a 1 year high of $115.48.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 50.76%. The business had revenue of $9.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Starbucks’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $653,183. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Company 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.