HS Management Partners LLC Sells 111,860 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

HS Management Partners LLC lowered its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 255,459 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 111,860 shares during the period. Starbucks comprises approximately 2.8% of HS Management Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $21,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 176,722 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $16,126,000 after purchasing an additional 81,952 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,826 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares during the period. SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Starbucks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $470,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Starbucks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $170,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 11.7% in the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,201 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SBUX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 target price on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $94.00 target price on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.04.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX stock opened at $88.18 on Friday. Starbucks Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.50 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.97 and a 200 day moving average of $87.16. The company has a market cap of $100.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.77, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $9.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 151.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 11,700 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.00 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.