Cerity Partners LLC Sells 36,464 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 266,784 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 36,464 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $22,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 9.2% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 7,267 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Tribridge Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 3rd quarter valued at $602,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 6.3% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 5,424 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks during the third quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.2% in the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 44,447 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $3,760,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SBUX shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $105.00 price objective on Starbucks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.12.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $88.88 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.13 and a 200-day moving average of $87.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.20, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $75.50 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 151.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Starbucks news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 11,700 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $85.00 per share, for a total transaction of $994,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 53,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,513,160. The trade was a 28.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Starbucks Profile

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.