Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 9,901 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX - Free Report) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,654 shares of the coffee company's stock after buying an additional 9,901 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Starbucks were worth $5,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 3.4% during the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 3,199 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in Starbucks by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 7,250 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 6,909 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 39.4% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Starbucks by 4.8% during the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SBUX shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Starbucks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,975,542.96. This trade represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Starbucks Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of SBUX traded up $1.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $94.43. 6,547,570 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,622,995. The company has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.35. Starbucks Co. has a 12-month low of $71.55 and a 12-month high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Starbucks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.72%.

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.