Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 930.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 449,433 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 405,800 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $43,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 9.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,389 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Starbucks by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 16,468 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Starbucks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $77,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,112,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 9.7% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 141,786 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $12,961,000 after purchasing an additional 12,550 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,316,143. This represents a 1.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.77.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.8 %

Starbucks stock opened at $101.51 on Thursday. Starbucks Co. has a 12 month low of $71.55 and a 12 month high of $103.32. The company has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.65.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. Starbucks’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is an increase from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.72%.

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.