West Family Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,068 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SBUX. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Starbucks in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 498.2% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 335 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Starbucks in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBUX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, August 26th. DZ Bank cut shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $81.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Starbucks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.81.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX opened at $99.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $112.36 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.44. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $105.47.

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

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 73.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $34,770.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,316,143. This represents a 1.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.