Raymond James & Associates Trims Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Raymond James & Associates decreased its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,485,467 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 5,641 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Starbucks were worth $135,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1,578.9% in the third quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 319 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Starbucks from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Starbucks from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.55.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.2 %

SBUX traded up $0.16 on Tuesday, hitting $88.49. 14,368,134 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,439,514. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.17 and a 200-day moving average of $94.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.98. Starbucks Co. has a 12-month low of $84.29 and a 12-month high of $115.48.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.13). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 50.76% and a net margin of 11.70%. The business had revenue of $8.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Starbucks news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,912,906.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, 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.