Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Sold by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,985 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 1,247 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $9,756,001,000 after buying an additional 387,632 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,388,924,000 after buying an additional 232,031 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 11.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,541,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $962,144,000 after buying an additional 1,115,051 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,146,033 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $493,350,000 after buying an additional 1,591,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 2.8% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,956,442 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $452,374,000 after buying an additional 133,620 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total transaction of $277,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 7,250 shares of company stock worth $651,738 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SBUX shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Starbucks from $107.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.39.

Starbucks Trading Down 15.9 %

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $74.44 on Thursday. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $72.67 and a 1 year high of $114.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.11). Starbucks had a net margin of 11.38% and a negative return on equity of 50.10%. The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 62.81%.

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.