Conning Inc. Buys 70,468 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 386,106 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,468 shares during the period. Starbucks makes up 1.2% of Conning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $35,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 176,722 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $16,126,000 after purchasing an additional 81,952 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 99.4% during the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 21.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,591 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,703 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.8% during the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,867 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 47.2% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $78.46 on Friday. Starbucks Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $75.50 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $86.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.02.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.14). Starbucks had a net margin of 7.18% and a negative return on equity of 36.23%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 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 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This is an increase from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBUX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W raised shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.56.

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.