Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $968.52 Million Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 3.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,934,571 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 330,717 shares during the period. Starbucks makes up approximately 1.3% of Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $968,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Starbucks by 1,466.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,350,932 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $260,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136,992 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Starbucks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $243,910,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Starbucks by 108.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,475,156 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $348,391,000 after buying an additional 2,324,847 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 89.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,553,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $196,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 158.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,824,133 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $142,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SBUX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. DZ Bank cut shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.81.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the 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 directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,316,143. This represents a 1.06 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Starbucks Price Performance

Starbucks stock opened at $102.50 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.11 and a 200-day moving average of $87.19. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $103.60. The company has a market capitalization of $116.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.