Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 43.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,043 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 4,726 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth about $875,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 88,374 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $7,442,000 after buying an additional 23,589 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Starbucks by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 94,260 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $7,938,000 after acquiring an additional 45,794 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 518,405 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $43,655,000 after purchasing an additional 87,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,232,650,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.99, for a total value of $236,251.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,963,558.65. This represents a 2.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 6,687 shares of company stock valued at $681,663 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SBUX. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Starbucks from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stephens began coverage on Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Melius Research set a $110.00 target price on Starbucks in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Starbucks in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.92.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $107.69 on Friday. Starbucks Corporation has a 12-month low of $77.99 and a 12-month high of $110.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.19. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 34.10% and a net margin of 5.17%.The firm had revenue of $9.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.550-2.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is currently 142.53%.

Starbucks Company Profile

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.