Wesbanco Bank Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,461 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,111 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $12,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Starbucks in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reduced their target price on Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.92.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX opened at $97.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.00. Starbucks Co. has a 12 month low of $71.55 and a 12 month high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is currently 73.72%.

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.