Financial Avengers Inc. Grows Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Financial Avengers Inc. boosted its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX – Get Rating) by 12.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,995 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the quarter. Starbucks accounts for approximately 2.1% of Financial Avengers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Financial Avengers Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Castle Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. LS Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 69.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research increased their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Starbucks from $95.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Starbucks from $92.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Starbucks from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.69.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 3,960 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $421,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,172,953. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 3,960 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $421,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,172,953. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 15,320 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.14, for a total value of $1,518,824.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 68,579 shares in the company, valued at $6,798,922.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,280 shares of company stock valued at $2,663,595. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $106.37. 803,799 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,115,625. The company has a market capitalization of $122.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.89. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $107.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.93.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 3rd. The coffee company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.43 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 39.85% and a net margin of 10.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 75.18%.

Starbucks Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Starbucks Corp. engages in the production, marketing, and retailing of specialty coffee. It operates through the following segments: North America, International, Channel Development, and Corporate and Other. The North America segment focuses on the United States and Canada. The International segment is involved in China, Japan, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Caribbean.