Covenant Partners LLC Reduces Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Covenant Partners LLC lowered its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 16.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,032 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 614 shares during the quarter. Covenant Partners LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SBUX. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 18.7% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 22,345 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,042,000 after buying an additional 3,516 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 21.6% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 9,929 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 4.3% during the first quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 4,397 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.9% during the first quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 52,768 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SBUX. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Starbucks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.48.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Starbucks stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.31. 9,665,550 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,366,117. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.55 and a 52-week high of $107.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.48 and a 200-day moving average of $85.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The coffee company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 49.38% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $9.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th 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 2.51%. This is an increase from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CEO Rachel Ruggeri sold 3,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.16, for a total transaction of $299,916.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,502 shares in the company, valued at $5,697,682.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Rachel Ruggeri sold 3,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.16, for a total value of $299,916.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,697,682.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 380 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,316,143. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.