Lafayette Investments Inc. Raises Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,373 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the quarter. Starbucks accounts for approximately 1.5% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $6,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SBUX. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Starbucks by 481.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $148,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,471 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 15.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 56,939 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $5,197,000 after purchasing an additional 7,619 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at about $794,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 60.6% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,464 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.1% during the third quarter. Motco now owns 74,829 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $6,830,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Starbucks from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Starbucks from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Starbucks from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.43.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.9 %

Starbucks stock traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $87.94. The company had a trading volume of 3,482,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,341,360. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $84.29 and a 1-year high of $115.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.42. The stock has a market cap of $99.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 50.76%. The company had revenue of $9.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Starbucks news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total value of $277,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 81,199 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 7,250 shares of company stock worth $653,183 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.