Drive Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Key Points

• Drive Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Starbucks by 56.1%, selling 5,718 shares and lowering its holdings to 4,477 shares valued at $439,000.
• Several hedge funds have recently altered their positions in Starbucks, with institutional investors holding 72.29% of the stock, demonstrating active investment interest.
• Starbucks reported an earnings miss, with a $0.41 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $0.51, alongside a slight revenue increase of 2.3% year-over-year.

Drive Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX - Free Report) by 56.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,477 shares of the coffee company's stock after selling 5,718 shares during the quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Starbucks were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Starbucks by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 54,924,230 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $5,011,796,000 after buying an additional 9,174,682 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,128,649 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $2,292,989,000 after buying an additional 5,348,790 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,826,001 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $2,259,516,000 after buying an additional 548,245 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Starbucks by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,868,817 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $1,448,030,000 after buying an additional 718,880 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Starbucks by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,573,337 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $1,238,567,000 after buying an additional 600,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Starbucks from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Starbucks from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Starbucks from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.12.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of SBUX traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $93.45. 25,126,841 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,443,914. The stock has a market cap of $106.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $91.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.66. Starbucks Corporation has a 12 month low of $72.72 and a 12 month high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.29 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 8.61% and a negative return on equity of 42.14%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Starbucks's dividend payout ratio is 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.