Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC reduced its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 54,430 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 664 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $4,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. 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. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the third quarter valued at $71,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total transaction of $143,849.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,747.36. The trade was a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Starbucks from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Starbucks from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.92.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $95.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.71. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32. The firm has a market cap of $107.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.99.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is currently 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.