Ballentine Partners LLC Lowers Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Ballentine Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,813 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 10,638 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,403,768 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $9,907,020,000 after buying an additional 470,498 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter worth $1,240,652,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,359,790 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,090,654,000 after purchasing an additional 260,489 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 106.7% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 5,612,687 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $512,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,897,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,511,378 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $529,147,000 after purchasing an additional 166,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBUX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Starbucks from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird raised Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on Starbucks from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.42.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $91.15 on Monday. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $107.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.80. The firm has a market cap of $103.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The coffee company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 49.38% and a net margin of 11.16%. The company had revenue of $9.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 62.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 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 chief executive officer now owns 75,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,057,327.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 75,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,057,327.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Rachel Ruggeri sold 3,290 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.16, for a total transaction of $299,916.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,697,682.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,790 shares of company stock worth $865,514. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.