Cerity Partners LLC Has $34.53 Million Stock Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 354,150 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,827 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $34,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 55,793 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $5,439,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 34,580 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 8,222 shares in the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 69.1% during the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 18,582 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 7,596 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 30,422 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,966,000 after acquiring an additional 9,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Starbucks by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,362,100 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $327,771,000 after acquiring an additional 9,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,316,143. This represents a 1.06 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $102.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $116.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.10. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.60.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is an increase from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SBUX shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Starbucks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.81.

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.