Retirement Planning Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,715 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,379,619,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the first quarter valued at approximately $817,759,000. Polen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the first quarter valued at approximately $503,539,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 59.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,623,282 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $943,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 22.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,414,472 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,904,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,545,655 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Starbucks stock opened at $85.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.01. Starbucks Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $75.50 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.40.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 7.18% and a negative return on equity of 36.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SBUX. Bank of America upped their price target on Starbucks from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Starbucks from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. CICC Research assumed coverage on Starbucks in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Starbucks from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Starbucks from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.60.

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.