Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 14,608 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,714 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,608 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $16,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its stake in Starbucks by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 2,750 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Financial Council LLC boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Council LLC now owns 7,210 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% during the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,197 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank bought a new position in shares of Starbucks in the third quarter worth approximately $470,000. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Starbucks in the third quarter worth approximately $219,000. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $100.00 target price on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $100.00 price target on Starbucks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price target on Starbucks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Starbucks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.44.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ SBUX opened at $85.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.57. Starbucks Corporation has a 12-month low of $75.50 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The firm has a market cap of $96.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.88, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.98.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 151.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 11,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.00 per share, for a total transaction of $994,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 53,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,513,160. This trade represents a 28.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.