Howard Capital Management Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,166 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. 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 purchasing an additional 437,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 333,004 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,928,339,000 after acquiring an additional 7,015,375 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Starbucks by 100.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,476,967,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Starbucks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after acquiring an additional 327,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at $7,975,542.96. This trade represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Starbucks from $110.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BTIG Research increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.92.

Starbucks Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $97.98 on Wednesday. Starbucks Co. has a 12 month low of $71.55 and a 12 month high of $103.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.84. The stock has a market cap of $111.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business 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 posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.