First Trust Advisors LP Sells 201,935 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 27.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 538,337 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 201,935 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $49,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.1% in the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,170 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 3,749 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its stake in Starbucks by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 8,293 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 6,132 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co grew its holdings in Starbucks by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 8,066 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 11,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $85.00 per share, for a total transaction of $994,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,513,160. This represents a 28.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SBUX shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.44.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $83.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.11 and a 200-day moving average of $87.72. The stock has a market cap of $94.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98. Starbucks Corporation has a 52-week low of $75.50 and a 52-week high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its 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). Starbucks had a net margin of 4.99% and a negative return on equity of 31.32%. The business had revenue of $9.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Starbucks’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

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 $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 151.22%.

Starbucks 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.