SouthState Corp Decreases Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

SouthState Corp lowered its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 59.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,497 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 5,218 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SBUX. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1,466.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,350,932 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $260,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136,992 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 2nd quarter worth $243,910,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 1st quarter worth $257,721,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 108.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,475,156 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $348,391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,553,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $196,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204,153 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. DZ Bank downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total transaction of $143,849.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,747.36. The trade was a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,316,143. This trade 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.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX opened at $98.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.45 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $105.47.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 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.