Becker Capital Management Inc. Sells 7,734 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Becker Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 9.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,289 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 7,734 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $6,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 112,861,623 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $10,341,511,000 after buying an additional 802,053 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Starbucks by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,513,332 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,353,647,000 after acquiring an additional 544,534 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,846,634 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,357,815,000 after acquiring an additional 99,983 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 22.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,414,472 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,904,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,545,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,246,316,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In related news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 11,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $85.00 per share, with a total value of $994,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 53,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,513,160. This represents a 28.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Starbucks Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $83.85 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.06 and a 200 day moving average of $87.68. Starbucks Corporation has a 52 week low of $75.50 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The company has a market cap of $95.35 billion, a PE ratio of 51.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.98.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.41 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 4.99% and a negative return on equity of 31.32%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is currently 151.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBUX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Starbucks from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group set a $94.00 target price on Starbucks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Starbucks from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.44.

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.