Cornerstone Capital Inc. Sells 4,838 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. cut its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 179,326 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 4,838 shares during the period. Starbucks makes up approximately 1.9% of Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $17,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SBUX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $9,756,001,000 after buying an additional 387,632 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,388,924,000 after purchasing an additional 232,031 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,541,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $962,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,051 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,146,033 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $493,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,956,442 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $452,374,000 after purchasing an additional 133,620 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Starbucks Price Performance

Starbucks stock opened at $88.25 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.28. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $84.29 and a fifty-two week high of $115.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 50.76% and a net margin of 11.70%. The firm had revenue of $9.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SBUX. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $102.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Starbucks news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,250 shares of company stock worth $651,738. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

About Starbucks

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.