Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $6.44 Million Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,690 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 1,753 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $6,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SBUX. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 327,459 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $29,881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,722 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $265,000. Wernau Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth about $285,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SBUX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Starbucks from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Starbucks from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Starbucks from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.92.

Starbucks Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of SBUX opened at $88.11 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.35. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The coffee company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.10). Starbucks had a net margin of 9.73% and a negative return on equity of 44.97%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.41%.

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.