Cypress Capital Group Reduces Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cypress Capital Group decreased its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 24.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,840 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 9,131 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SBUX. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 2.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,720,903 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $678,923,000 after buying an additional 221,718 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Starbucks by 108.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,475,156 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $348,391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324,847 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,362,100 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $327,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 1,466.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,350,932 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $260,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,136,992 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 3.9% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,255,967 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $317,424,000 after purchasing an additional 122,886 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SBUX shares. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.81.

Starbucks Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $98.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.70. Starbucks Co. has a 52 week low of $71.55 and a 52 week high of $104.68.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,316,143. The trade was a 1.06 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.