Brookstone Capital Management Lowers Stock Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Brookstone Capital Management lowered its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,683 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 2,975 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 437,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,358,464,000 after purchasing an additional 333,004 shares during 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 worth $1,928,339,000 after purchasing an additional 7,015,375 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.9% in 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SBUX shares. Wedbush lowered their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.0 %

Starbucks stock opened at $93.08 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.34. The company has a market cap of $105.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.55 and a 52-week high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

About Starbucks

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.