Northern Trust Corp Raises Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,573,337 shares of the coffee company's stock after purchasing an additional 600,151 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.19% of Starbucks worth $1,238,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,244,812,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,174,682 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 27.0% during 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. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Starbucks by 167.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,690,198 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $519,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,563,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter valued at about $284,283,000. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SBUX shares. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down previously from $114.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Starbucks from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Starbucks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.15.

Starbucks Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of SBUX stock traded up $1.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.01. The stock had a trading volume of 18,308,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,445,657. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $117.46. The firm has a market cap of $93.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $94.45 and its 200-day moving average is $97.54.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Starbucks's payout ratio is 78.71%.

Starbucks Company 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.