Willner & Heller LLC Acquires 147 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Willner & Heller LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,873 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co boosted its stake in Starbucks by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 3,199 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.6% in the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 7,250 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 6,909 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 39.4% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Starbucks by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SBUX shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at $7,975,542.96. This trade represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $95.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.60.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 73.72%.

About Starbucks

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.