Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,372,978 shares of the coffee company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,728 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Starbucks worth $125,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SBUX. UBS Group upped their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Starbucks from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Starbucks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.33.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ SBUX traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $112.57. 4,050,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,760,663. The company has a market cap of $127.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. Starbucks Co. has a 52 week low of $71.55 and a 52 week high of $113.47. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $98.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.66.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks 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.