Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Sells 90,886 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 63.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,625 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 90,886 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $4,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,244,812,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Starbucks by 100.6% during 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at about $284,283,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 1,491.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,808,571 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $256,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,632,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Starbucks in the third quarter worth about $126,574,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Starbucks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.12.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX stock opened at $99.41 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $105.84 and its 200 day moving average is $99.54. The firm has a market cap of $112.92 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $71.55 and a one year high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.71%.

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.