HF Advisory Group LLC Buys Shares of 4,672 Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,672 shares of the coffee company’s stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 481.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $148,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,471 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 15.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 56,939 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $5,197,000 after acquiring an additional 7,619 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Starbucks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $794,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 60.6% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,464 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Finally, Motco grew its position in Starbucks by 1.1% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 74,829 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $6,830,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total transaction of $277,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 81,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $653,183 over the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SBUX shares. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Gordon Haskett lowered Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Starbucks from $102.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Starbucks from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.43.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX opened at $87.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.42. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $84.29 and a one year high of $115.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 50.76% and a net margin of 11.70%. The firm had revenue of $9.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.96%.

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.