Montag A & Associates Inc. Grows Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 57.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,511 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 10,365 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 17,123 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Capital LLC boosted its stake in Starbucks by 9.3% in the third quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 4,282 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in Starbucks by 4.0% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 47,915 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the third quarter worth approximately $5,538,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 30,935 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 4,343 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBUX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Starbucks from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. William Blair cut Starbucks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased 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, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Starbucks news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total transaction of $277,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $651,738. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Starbucks Trading Up 3.0 %

Starbucks stock traded up $2.18 on Thursday, hitting $75.68. 18,574,353 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,977,913. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.39. The firm has a market cap of $85.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $71.80 and a 1 year high of $108.11.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.11). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 49.91% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $8.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.63 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 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.