Avanza Fonder AB Invests $7.89 Million in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 86,432 shares of the coffee company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,887,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Starbucks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 39.4% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SBUX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Starbucks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total transaction of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX opened at $95.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.92 and a 200 day moving average of $91.35.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The business had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.72%.

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.