Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 4,684 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. decreased its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 372,971 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 4,684 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $35,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orca Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 7,494 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 481.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $148,567,000 after buying an additional 1,281,471 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 56,939 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $5,197,000 after buying an additional 7,619 shares during the last quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $794,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SBUX. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Starbucks from $120.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.43.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In other news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total value of $277,517.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $651,738 in the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.50. The stock had a trading volume of 21,888,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,714,714. The firm has a market cap of $82.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.53. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.80 and a 52-week high of $108.12.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.11). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 49.91% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 62.81%.

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.