Principal Securities Inc. Sells 1,027 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Principal Securities Inc. lessened its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 76,611 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 1,027 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $6,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,476,967,000 after purchasing an additional 7,598,146 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,928,339,000 after buying an additional 7,015,375 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1,491.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,808,571 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $256,282,000 after buying an additional 2,632,087 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1,078.5% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,545,419 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $248,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,329,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter worth about $126,574,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SBUX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.33.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $112.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $98.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.87. The company has a market cap of $127.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $113.47.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Starbucks Company 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.