Cove Private Wealth LLC Purchases New Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cove Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,902 shares of the coffee company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,078 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,497 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. raised its stake in Starbucks by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 28,517 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush dropped their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $76.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.92.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.7 %

Starbucks stock opened at $95.13 on Monday. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.55 and a 52-week high of $103.32. The company has a market cap of $107.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.84 and its 200 day moving average is $91.60.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.72%.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,975,542.96. The trade was a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.