Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,873 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SBUX. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 9.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,389 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Starbucks by 11.3% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 9,507 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 11.2% in the first quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 8.7% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 148,302 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $13,553,000 after acquiring an additional 11,903 shares during the period. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 389.5% during the first quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 68,703 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $6,279,000 after acquiring an additional 54,668 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on SBUX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DZ Bank cut Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Baird R W raised Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.31.

Starbucks Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $99.80 on Thursday. Starbucks Co. has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $107.66. The company has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.93.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. Starbucks’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $34,770.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares in the company, valued at $3,316,143. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.