Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires 29,182 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 181.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,301 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,182 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $4,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,928,339,000 after buying an additional 7,015,375 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Starbucks by 1,466.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,350,932 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $260,870,000 after buying an additional 3,136,992 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Starbucks by 1,491.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,808,571 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $256,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,632,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,329,431 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SBUX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.92.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total transaction of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Starbucks Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $94.43 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.35. The company has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 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.